Christie's trustworthiness questioned by N.J. voters, poll shows
By Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on October 16, 2014 at 6:00 AM
TRENTON — In a sign that the damage from the George Washington Bridge scandal may be lingering, a new poll says that barely a fifth of New Jersey voters trust Gov. Chris Christie implicitly anymore, slightly more than a third find him “somewhat trustworthy,” and 40 percent say the trait no longer applies to the governor at all.
And most of the erosion in the voters’ views of the governor’s trustworthiness is coming from what has traditionally been his base: Republican male voters.
The Rutgers-Eagleton survey released today shows that trust in Christie “has continued to decline further after hitting an all-time low last March.”
“Not that long ago, voters were very likely to see Christie as trustworthy. This was especially noteworthy given how little people trust most politicians,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and professor of political science at Rutgers.
A month before his November 2013 re-election, 43 percent said “trustworthy” applied to Christie very well, and 32 percent said somewhat well. Only 20 percent thought it did not apply at all.
Meanwhile, perceptions of Christie’s key qualities have also continued to decline, the poll found.
Nearly half (47 percent) of voters still say “strong leader” applies very well to Christie, but this is down 19 points since October 2013 with half that drop coming immediately after Bridgegate.
Those who consider Christie as effective are dwindling: Fewer than one in three (31 percent) now say the word applies very well, with two-thirds of that 19 point plunge coming in just the past several months.
The 27 percent of the electorate that says “fair” describes Christie very well reflects a 14-point drop since October 2013.
Other positive qualities for Christie have also eroded in voters eyes:
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/10/christies_trustworthiness_questioned_by_nj_voters_poll_shows.html
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