Reminds me of a column by George Skelton this morning about a new PPIC poll.
The gloomy mood shows up in polls when an age-old question is asked: “Do you think things are generally going in the right direction or the wrong direction?” The Public Policy Institute of California recently asked that question about this state. And the reply among likely voters was overwhelmingly negative: 41% right direction, 54% wrong direction. The voters’ view of California hasn’t been that negative in a PPIC poll since 2014, when we were starting to emerge from the recession and suffering a severe drought.
Californians have a much worse opinion of the nation’s direction, according to another recent poll by the nonpartisan UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. It found only 28% of registered voters thought the country was headed in the right direction and 72% believed it was on the wrong track. That’s largely because President Trump is so unpopular in this state. In the IGS poll, just 31% approved of Trump’s job performance and 69% disapproved.
But because Democrats lopsidedly control state government, you might think California’s deep-blue electorate would have a more optimistic view of the state’s direction. Why don’t they? “People are on edge,” says Mark Baldassare, PPIC’s president and pollster. “There’s a number of things going on that people feel nervous about. Opinions seem to be a lot more negative than the economics call for now.” He asked likely voters another age-old question: “What do you think is the most important issue facing people in California?” And for the first time ever, homelessness appeared in in double digits, the pollster says.
In fact, homelessness placed No. 1 at 16%, ahead of even jobs and the economy, at 13%. Then came housing costs and immigration, each at 11%, and the environment, 10%. Taxes and state spending were at 9%.
“Beyond housing,” Baldassare says, “people are worried about healthcare costs, mass shootings, someone they know being deported. There are a number of things they’re worried about.” Including high taxes, a California trademark. And horrible traffic congestion plus nitwit drivers.
The IGS poll found that half the state’s registered voters have thought about leaving the state. “People are very scared and have no confidence in the future,” Sragow says. “That’s exactly how you get a Donald Trump [elected].” Hey, times are good — but apparently not by 21st century standards.
https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... ction-poll
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan