Mississippi Likes Its Governor As Well As Proposals He Has Vetoed
reprinted with permission from our friends at SouthernPoliticalReport.com
By Tim Darnell, Editor, Southern Political Report
(4/11/06) While Mississippians have a high regard for their governor, they also favor raising taxes on cigarettes and lowering them on groceries, a legislative proposal that Gov. Haley Barbour has twice vetoed.
Our Southern Political Report Poll of the South asked the question: “Overall, do you approve of the job Haley Barbour is doing as governor?”
Approve ? 59 percent
Disapprove ? 32 percent
Don’t know ? 9 percent
Whites overwhelmingly gave high approval ratings to Barbour (77 percent) than did blacks (32 percent, with 55 percent disapproving and 13 percent undecided).
We then asked the question: “Do you favor or oppose proposals to reduce state taxes in Mississippi on groceries and increase them on cigarettes?”
Favor ? 66 percent
Oppose ? 26 percent
Don’t Know/Undecided ? 8 percent
The proposal found strong, across the board idea among both genders and all races.
“This survey was taken last month as part of a very comprehensive poll of nine Southern states,” noted InsiderAdvantage CEO and nationally syndicated columnist (Creators Syndicate) Matt Towery. “However, it is obvious to me that there is a complete separation among Mississippi voters between their support for Haley Barbour and their feeling with regard to a cigarette tax replacing that on groceries. Barbour’s popularity trumps the popularity of the legislation which he continues to veto. My guess is that he is well aware of this or Haley wouldn’t be vetoing an otherwise popular piece of legislation so often.”
InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research’s “Poll of the South” surveyed 4,000 voters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia March 14 through March 23. The InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research survey also included questions on policy and issues, as well as key ballot tests in various states. Much of this polling required additional weighting over the weekend. Respondents were polled on national political and social issues, as well as key issues and upcoming in elections in their states. Each state and the region have been weighted by age, race, gender and political party affiliation.
Magnolia Tribune
