COLUMBUS, Ohio – President Barack Obama’s approval rating is lower in Ohio than either of two other swing states that are key to victory in a presidential race.
Obama has negative approval ratings in Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania and, while voters in each state strongly support his call to raise taxes on the rich to help the middle class, they believe the next president should adopt different policies and take the country in a new direction, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released Thursday.
The poll focuses on those states because, since 1960, no candidate has won the presidency without winning at least two of them.
Obama’s approval rating in Ohio is in negative territory, with only 42 percent saying they approve of the job he is doing, compared to 53 percent who disapprove.
That is a wider margin than the negative 44-53 percent in Pennsylvania and Florida’s 46- 49 percent negative rating.
Ohio voters say, by a margin of 61 to 34 percent that the next president should change direction rather than continue Obama’s policies.
While Ohioans oppose the Affordable Care Act 55 to 40 percent, only 27 percent want to repeal it entirely.
Ohio voters are opposed – by a 51–44 percent margin – to Obama’s proposal to provide free community college tuition.
A total of 79 percent of voters in the state say they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about the rise of Islamic extremism and 78 percent are “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about a terrorist attack in the U.S. A majority think the government should investigate possible terrorist threats, even if it means intruding on personal privacy.
The poll was conducted from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent in Ohio.