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In beat-up economy, Floridians still upbeat, poll shows

By Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, November 20, 2008

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Despite evidence of a widening recession, most Florida voters are still upbeat about their own financial conditions and almost half are satisfied with where the state is headed, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

"Only 53 percent say they are somewhat or very dissatisfied with the way things are going in Florida today, while 47 percent are very or somewhat satisfied. That's pretty optimistic given the economy, stock market crash and predictions that the recession could be deep and long," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"The housing meltdown hit Florida worse than most of the rest of the country and unemployment has risen there, yet voters aren't nearly as pessimistic about their situation or their prospects as in some other states."

A recent national Quinnipiac poll showed a record high 82 percent level of dissatisfaction.

About 56 percent of those polled say family finances are "excellent" or "good," and 43 percent say they are "not so good" or "poor." But only 31 percent expect things to get better in the next year, while 21 percent say they will get worse, and 44 percent say they will stay the same. Other highlights:

• About 59 percent said they are worse off than a year ago; 20 percent said they're better off; and 20 percent said about the same.

• In an open-ended question, about half the voters cited the economy as their biggest concern, followed by education and taxes at 8 percent each.

Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,361 Florida voters Nov. 11-16, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.