Index of University Press Releases

April 15, 2009

DWU Tiger Poll: Obama given high marks as concerns about
economy weigh heavy on the minds of South Dakotans

MITCHELL, S.D. – The economy is weighing heavily on the minds of voters in South Dakota, and President Barack Obama is given high marks for his first months in office. Congress is not viewed as favorably by South Dakota residents.

The poll of 413 South Dakotans conducted from March 23 to April 6 indicated that 62 percent of South Dakotans strongly approve or somewhat approve of Obama’s performance in his job as president, while only 29 percent of respondents somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of his performance. The remaining 9 percent of respondents said they had no opinion or did not respond.

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The DWU Tiger Poll appears to mirror the results of a recent national poll conducted by CBS and The New York Times, conducted April 1-5, which found that 66 percent of Americans approved of Obama’s performance and 24 percent disapproved, with 10 percent undecided or saying they don’t know.

Among those South Dakota residents contacted who identified themselves as Democrats, 83 percent said they strongly approved or somewhat approved of Obama’s job performance, with only 10 percent stating they strongly disapproved or somewhat disapproved of his performance. The remaining 7 percent of respondents said they had no opinion or did not respond.

Republicans in South Dakota, however, viewed Obama’s performance quite differently. Among those who identified themselves as Republicans, only 41 percent said they strongly approved or somewhat approved of Obama’s job performance, with more than 48 percent stating they strongly disapprove or somewhat disapprove. The remaining 11 percent of respondents said they had no opinion or did not respond.

The majority of South Dakota’s independent voters surveyed also gave Obama high marks. Sixty-one percent said they strongly approved or somewhat approved of Obama’s job performance, with 28 percent stating they strongly disapproved or somewhat disapproved. The remaining 11 percent of respondents said they had no opinion or did not respond.

More than 55 percent of South Dakotans in every income level strongly approved or somewhat approved of Obama’s job performance, according to the survey. Those with a household income between $20,000 and $49,000 gave Obama the highest marks, with 67 percent stating they strongly approved or somewhat approved of Obama’s job performance. Households with an income of $100,000 or more gave the president his lowest overall approval rating, at 55 percent, with 39 percent responding that they somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved of his job performance.

Congress, however, does not enjoy the high marks given the president, according to the DWU Tiger Poll. The survey indicated that only 40 percent of respondents strongly approve or somewhat approve of the way the Congress is handling its job, while the majority, 53 percent, somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove. The remaining 7 percent said they had no opinion or did not respond.

Among South Dakotans who identified themselves as Democrats, 55 percent said they strongly approved or somewhat approved of the way that Congress is handling its job, with 37 percent stating they strongly disapprove or somewhat disapprove. The remaining 8 percent said they had no opinion or did not respond.

Republicans in South Dakota were much more critical of Congress. Among those who identified themselves as Republicans, only 26 percent said they strongly approved or somewhat approved of the way Congress was handling its job, with more than 70 percent stating they strongly disapproved or somewhat disapproved of its performance. The remaining 4 percent said they had no opinion or did not respond.

South Dakota’s independent voters were also critical of the overall job performance Congress. None of the respondents strongly approved of the job performance of Congress and only 36 percent somewhat approved, with 50 percent stating they strongly disapproved or somewhat disapproved of its performance. The remaining 14 percent had no opinion or did not respond.

No more than 47 percent of South Dakotans in any income level category strongly approved or somewhat approved of the job performance of Congress. Those with a household income below $20,000 gave Congress its highest marks, with 47 percent overall approval, but an equal percentage strongly disapproved or somewhat disapproved of the job performance of Congress. Households with an income of $100,000 or more gave Congress its lowest overall approval rating, at 37 percent, with 63 percent responding that they somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved of its job performance.

The DWU Tiger Poll found almost no difference between the opinions of men and women regarding the performance of Obama or Congress. The response by gender for both questions was statistically insignificant and well within the margin of error.

DWU Tiger Poll data also indicates that the economy, more than any other issue, is now a concern for South Dakotans. Sixty-four percent identified the economy as the biggest problem the country faces, compared to only 37 percent of DWU Tiger Poll respondents one year ago. Six percent identified the national debt as the major issue the country faces, with 4 percent identifying the war in Iraq. Terrorism, taxes, immigration and global warming were listed as the major issue by 1 percent or fewer respondents.

Respondents were not given a list of possible responses for the biggest issue facing the country; however, all responses were placed in one of the following categories: economy/jobs, war in Iraq, healthcare, terrorism, immigration, deficit/national debt, gas/fuel crisis, taxes, global warming or other. Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed identified an issue that was determined to be appropriately categorized as “other” and 2 percent did not respond.

The economy was identified as the biggest problem our country faces by those in every income category. More than 65 percent of South Dakotans with incomes higher than $20,000, and 47 percent of those with incomes less than $20,000, identified the economy as the biggest problem, with more than 30 percent identifying an issue other than one listed as a category on the survey. Every income level surveyed identified an issue other than one listed as a category on the survey as the second most identified problem facing America. The national deficit was the third most identified problem among individuals in every household income level except for the $20,000 to $49,000 range, in which healthcare was identified by 6 percent of respondents. The war in Iraq tied the national deficit as the third most identified problem, at 4 percent each, among respondents with household incomes of more than $100,000.

There was virtually no statistical difference between women and men on responses regarding the most important issue facing the country today, as 64 percent of each gender identified the economy.

The DWU Tiger Poll is a joint project of the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service and the DWU Mathematics Department. Karla Hunter, Donald Watt, Donald Simmons, Michael Catalano and Rocky Von Eye form the faculty research team for the 2009 DWU Tiger Poll. Student research coordinators for the 2009 DWU Tiger Poll are Teagan Aguinaga, Todd Casselman, Sarah Duff, Katy Duffy, Jerry Hinkle, Philip Johnson, Kelsey Miller, Lucas Sieve, Zach Zephier, Anu Mishra, Laura Guericke, John Olson, Jennifer Krueger, Sarah Pagel, Michela Duxbury, Kyle Henderson, Jared Thomas and Corey Marek.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.8 percent for the entire statewide sample. Subset sample margins of error vary depending on selected sample sizes. Totals may not equal 100 percent as all percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

More detailed information about the poll results is available online at www.mcgoverncenter.com/poll2009.