BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ohio Gov. George Voinovich's approval rating has slipped in the wake of the overwhelming defeat of Issue 2, but President Clinton's rating among Ohioans is as high as ever, according to the latest Ohio Poll.
The president's approval rating of 64 percent reflects national surveys showing that, despite investigations of his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and growing controversy over the sale of missile technology to China, Mr. Clinton remains popular.
The Ohio governor, a candidate for U.S. Senate this year, is also still very popular with Ohioans, with 59 percent in the Ohio Poll saying they approve of the job he is doing.
But the latest poll, conducted May 13-27 among 739 randomly selected Ohio adults, shows that his approval rating has dropped 10 percentage points since an Ohio Poll in January.
The latest Ohio Poll, sponsored by the Enquirer and the University of Cincinnati, was conducted after the May 5 primary election, when Issue 2 -- the sales tax increase for schools that Mr. Voinovich touted -- was rejected by 80 percent of Ohio voters.
The latest Ohio Poll also showed a slip in the popularity of the Ohio General Assembly, which put the sales tax issue on the ballot. In January, 63 percent of Ohioans said they approve of the job the legislature is doing, but that figure dropped to 50 percent in the latest poll.
Most of Mr. Voinovich's slippage in his approval rating went into the category of "don't know" rather than "disapprove." In the latest poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, 24 percent said they disapprove of the job he is doing as governor, while 17 percent said they don't know. In the January poll, the numbers were 21 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
"There is some damage to the governor from the Issue 2 campaign, but he is still an enormously popular figure," said Alfred J. Tuchfarber, director of UC's Institute for Policy Research, which conducted the poll.
"I don't think the wheels are falling off, either for Voinovich or the legislature," Mr. Tuchfarber said.
The principal reason Ohioans gave for why they approve of Mr. Voinovich was that he is "doing a good job," which was cited by 15 percent. Nine percent said they "hadn't heard anything bad about him."
Disapproval reasons for the governor ranged from his support of Issue 2 (3 percent) to "not improving education" (2 percent). Mr. Voinovich's highest levels of support came from Republicans and Ohioans with higher levels of education and annual incomes. Although a majority in all geographic areas give him a high rating, Mr. Voinovich runs highest in Columbus (68 percent) and lowest in Cincinnati (54 percent).
Mr. Clinton's approval rating in Ohio has remained high for the past three years and has been climbing in recent months.
While 64 percent of Ohioans said they approve of the job he is doing as president, 30 percent said they disapprove and 5 percent said they don't know. In the January poll, his approval rating was 65 percent.
Predictably, Mr. Clinton's approval rating in Ohio splits sharply along party lines. Only 46 percent of Republicans approve of his job performance.
"Bill Clinton has been able to stay popular for two reasons -- he has incredible political skills, and because of the wonderful economy that we are enjoying," Mr. Tuchfarber said.
