The rating was the lowest for Schwarzenegger since October 2005, shortly before voters soundly rejected ballot measures he pressed for in a special election.
The poll also found Californians more pessimistic about the state's direction than at any time since the 2003 recall that swept Schwarzenegger into office. Fewer than one in five voters felt the state was headed in the right direction, with two-thirds convinced it was on the wrong track. That was the lowest rating since August 2003, on the eve of the recall campaign, when a mere 14% of voters were optimistic.
Women were among the most pessimistic, with 16% judging the state headed in the right direction. Not coincidentally, they viewed the governor far less favorably than Californians overall, with only 35% approving of how he has governed.
Republicans, too, were negative, with 73% saying the state was on the wrong track and 52% approving of Schwarzenegger's tenure. The governor has clashed repeatedly with fellow Republicans on a range of policy issues.
The poll, under the direction of Susan Pinkus, interviewed 834 Californians, including 705 registered voters, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points in either direction overall and 4 points for registered voters. Margins were larger for demographic subgroups.
Signs that Democratic loyalty had survived the primary surfaced repeatedly in the survey. To take one measure, Clinton won 76% of Democrats against McCain; Obama won 75%, a statistically insignificant difference. In any case, Obama more than made up for it by winning more independents and Republicans than Clinton would.
Gregory Sanders, a Democrat from West Hollywood, said he "avidly" supported Clinton in the primary but would now back Obama.
"I accept that she lost the nomination," he said in a follow-up interview, adding that he still has "reservations" about Obama because of the controversial comments made by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
"He strikes me as naive, and the Rev. Wright scandal demonstrates that," Sanders said. "Obama knew that was a problem and he didn't do anything about it."
But Lena Neal, a Democrat from Perris, described herself as a former Clinton supporter who had turned to Obama as the primary season progressed. "He's just a down-to-earth person, just a reachable person," she said.
