Poll: Nevadans angry, pessimistic

WASHINGTON -- What is the mood in a state where almost one in five people is out of a job or underemployed? Where you've most likely held a foreclosure notice in your hand or know someone who has? Where nobody knows when the good times will return?

In Nevada, a new poll suggests people variously are angry, pessimistic, dismayed, anxious, fearful, skeptical and cynical, according to analysts reviewing the results. And to the extent Nevadans are looking for someone to blame, it probably does not help to be the Democrats in power.

"In Nevada and in many parts of the country the mood is very pessimistic," said Stephen Miller, chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "People are frightened. That mood out there is being reflected in the responses to the poll.

"In many cases I think people are responding from their gut, and their gut says things are bad," Miller said.

A survey conducted this week for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KLAS-TV, Channel 8 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research showed 60 percent of Nevadans believe the country is on the wrong track. On President Barack Obama, 39 percent approve of his job performance while 55 percent disapprove.

Forty percent of Nevadans believe Obama's efforts to stabilize the economy have made things worse while 24 percent say it is has had no effect. Twenty-nine percent say the president has improved the economy.

As for who is to blame for the stagnant economy, Nevadans are split. Forty-six percent point fingers at former President George W. Bush and the Republicans, while 48 percent say it's the fault of Obama and the Democrats for "spending too much money and creating more debt."

When it comes to which party would do a better job of stimulating growth and creating jobs, 45 percent said the Republicans and 40 percent said the Democrats. That is a troubling sign for Democrats seeking re-election, experts said.

The margin of error in the survey, which was conducted Monday through Wednesday was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Taken together, the poll numbers -- which reflect a general gloominess and a split as to who can show the way out -- "captures a lot of feeling in Nevada that nothing is working," said Erik Herzik, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno.

"The economy is just, at best, dead in the water, if not still sinking," Herzik said. "You are looking and seeing nothing on the horizon that tells you it's going to turn around."

Coupled with looming cuts in state and local governments, "that all starts to feed on itself," he said. "And that leads to a kind of dismay."

"As a package, this is not a very positive vote on the first 18 months of the Obama administration," Herzik said. "Nevadans are a little bit more negative about Obama than the nation as a whole. I don't think I've ever seen where Obama has gotten more blame than Bush."

On other questions in the poll, half of Nevadans say they would oppose establishing a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax that some White House advisers and members of Congress say could help reduce the deficit. Only 25 percent would support such a tax while 25 percent say they are undecided.

And the health care reform plan signed into law this spring remains unpopular, with 52 percent of Nevadans saying they support repeal while 38 percent want it to remain in effect.

Charlie Crosby, a Las Vegas retiree who hosts a talk show each Thursday on KKVV-AM, 1060, a Christian radio station, said he was at a poker game in Henderson recently and struck up a conversation with a table of players who live in Anthem.

"Six of the 10 of them are in foreclosure," Crosby said. "I know some of the dirt bags of this city, and I know all strata of society, and they all are a little bit worried. Even the people who have a lot of money, they are just tired of the rat race. A lot of them are just plain scared."

The nation is still at war, and it looks like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is going to pose problems for years to come. But when you ask most Nevadans these days how they view life, "the primary driver is economy, economy, economy," said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon.

By that measure, the survey "clearly shows that Obama has not scored many points," Coker said. "His job approval is going to be tied in many ways to how the economy fares. People are looking at him to turn the economy around and so far that hasn't happened, and he's thrown a lot of money at it. At least in the minds of the voters, they don't think things are on the right track."

As for who is being blamed, "a lot of people are blaming everybody," Coker said. "There is a certain level of equal blame (between Democrats and Republicans). But at the end of the day, George W. Bush will never appear on a ballot again but Obama will be there at least one more time and, more important, a lot of his political allies are going to be on the ballot in November."

"Basically people are saying they have lost confidence in government and that is a sad state of affairs," UNLV's Miller said.

"People are fearful, they do not see relief yet. I hear people who are unemployed wondering how in the hell this happened and wondering if there is any way the government can save them," said Mark Peplowski, a political scientist at the College of Southern Nevada.

Amid the gloom, Crosby for one sees signs of promise in the food banks and other volunteer efforts that he said are gaining steam in Las Vegas.

"There is this undercurrent of people who have begun to help one another," he said. "I can see it in the churches."

Contact Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.