New poll registers lower popularity for Bredesen

Email | Print By Drew Ruble

05-13-2005 3:26 PM — SurveyUSA, which since 1992 has conducted opinion polls for TV stations nationwide, has released 50 separate but concurrent statewide public opinion polls gauging the approval rating of U.S. governors.

Six hundred adults in each of the 50 states were interviewed by telephone between May 6 through May 8. All were asked the same question: do you approve or disapprove of the job the governor of your state is doing?

In Tennessee, 52% of respondents said that Gov. Phil Bredesen is doing a good job; 40% disapproved of the job Bredesen is doing; 9% said they were not sure.

The results suggest a drop in Bredesen’s popularity across the state. A February poll conducted by the Middle Tennessee State University College of Mass Communication revealed Bredesen’s approval rate to be 62%, down from the 70% range the previous year.

In a press release put out by TeamGOP, a grassroots political organization dedicated to electing Republicans to all levels of government in Tennessee, state Republican Party chairman Bob Davis is quoted stating that the poll is evidence that "The honeymoon is over and the chickens are coming home to roost...Graduation rates are at an all-time low, our schools are failing, plants are closing, and the governor has still not done anything concrete about TennCare."