EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State University’s latest State of the State Survey presents a distinct paradox: Michigan residents are increasingly optimistic about the economy but seem to be losing faith in their political leaders.
President Barack Obama scored the lowest job-approval marks of his tenure, with only 36.9 percent of Michigan residents rating his performance as “good” or “excellent.” Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s positive ratings were even lower, at 20.8 percent, her worst since 2007. And trust in state government overall was at an all-time low in the quarterly survey.
Yet at the same time, confidence in the long-suffering economy continued to edge up, with 47.6 percent of Michigan residents rating their financial situation as “good” or “excellent.” That’s a marked improvement from the past several surveys and the highest rating since fall 2007, when it was 51.5 percent.
Charles Ballard, survey director and MSU professor of economics, said it’s not unusual for a politician’s support to fade, particularly if that leader, like Obama, “was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm.” Obama’s first rating in the MSU survey, after he came to office in January 2009, was 70.7 percent.
“President Obama’s initial ratings were so high that it was probably inevitable they would decrease,” Ballard said. “Still, it’s remarkable how far his positives have fallen in the past year. Even though the economy is improving, unemployment remains high and this probably contributes to the drop.”
Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in May, to 13.6 percent, but was still the second highest in the nation to Nevada’s 14 percent.
For her part, Granholm is nearing the end of her second and final four-year term as Michigan’s chief executive, and Ballard noted that “Michigan residents don’t appear to be favorable to lame ducks.”
“Eight years ago,” he said, “when John Engler’s time as governor was winding down, his approval ratings fell substantially. In summer 2002, Engler received 50.2 percent positive ratings, but by the end of that year his positives had fallen to only 33.7 percent.”
Residents’ dissatisfaction doesn’t stop with the governor, however; trust in all state government is at an historic low, Ballard said. About 37 percent of residents in the survey said they “seldom or never” trust state government – a number that has roughly tripled in the past decade.
Ballard said trust in state government has now fallen to the same low levels as trust in the federal government. Trust in local government remains much higher.
The State of the State Survey, a quarterly assessment conducted by MSU’s Institute of Public Policy and Social Research since 1994, is the only scientific survey that monitors the public mood on important issues facing Michigan and the state’s major regions.
The winter 2010 telephone survey of 1,969 Michigan residents, conducted between Feb. 3 and April 30, has a margin of error of 2.2 percent.
The survey also found:
- Some 21.7 percent of residents believe they are better off financially than they were one year ago – a mark that has risen steadily since spring 2009. Meantime, 55.2 percent believe they are worse off than one year ago – a mark that’s fallen from an all-time high of 67.1 percent in winter 2009.
- Some 50.1 percent of residents believe they will be better off one year from now, while 30.6 percent believe they will be worse off. This reflects a slow but steady improvement in residents’ financial outlook.
- The percentage of Michigan residents rating Obama’s performance as “good” or “excellent” has fallen each quarter he’s been in office, to 36.9 percent currently. For perspective, George W. Bush’s lowest rating was 13.7 percent in fall 2008 and Bill Clinton’s was 32.3 percent in summer 1995.
- Granholm, like Obama, was greeted by strong support when she initially came to office, with a 58 percent job-approval rating during the first survey of her administration. As Michigan’s economy sputtered, her ratings fell into the 40s in 2004 and into the 30s in 2005. Her lowest marks came in fall 2007 when only 18.9 percent gave her a positive rating.
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