California voters remain strongly in favor of ousting President Bush and replacing him with Sen. John F. Kerry despite Bush's recent gains in popularity nationwide, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found.
Voters likely to cast ballots in the Nov. 2 election support the Democratic nominee and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, over Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney by 55% to 40%, the poll found. Just 5% are undecided. Most recent national polls have the Republican ticket leading by varying margins.
With independent Ralph Nader in the race, Kerry's margin of victory narrows slightly, but he still beats Bush in a 53%-to-40% romp, with 2% of likely voters favoring the former consumer advocate. Nader, who won nearly 4% of the California vote in 2000, will not appear on the state's ballot this time, but supporters are trying to qualify him as a write-in candidate.
On the Iraq war, terrorism and the economy, Bush's ratings in California have edged downward since spring, the survey found.
Overall, Bush's popularity among California voters hovers near the lowest level of his presidency: 43% approve of his job performance, and 55% disapprove. By comparison, 67% approve of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's job performance, according to the poll.
With the election less than six weeks away, the findings suggest that California is all but locked down as one of the most solidly Democratic states in the race for the White House -- confirming why both major parties have virtually ignored the state as voting nears. In the country's other Democratic bastion, New York, Kerry also leads Bush but by a smaller margin.
For California voters, the war in Iraq ranks as the top issue in the campaign, to Bush's detriment. The poll and follow-up interviews with respondents show that disapproval of Bush's conduct of the war is a key factor driving voter dissatisfaction with his presidency.
"He got us into this war under false pretenses," said Republican Gordon Weaver, 75, a retired Huntington Beach aerospace worker who backs Kerry. Bush "refuses to acknowledge that we went there in error, and he has no idea of how to get out of the situation. He coats it with sugar when everybody's saying it's a disaster."
The poll found that 60% of likely voters disapprove of the way Bush has handled the Iraq war, 58% say it will not make the world safer, and 56% see it as not worthwhile. On the question of which candidate would more likely develop a plan for achieving success in Iraq, Kerry holds an edge over Bush.
