McCain’s approval ratings fall to new low in Arizona

PHOENIX — A new poll revealed that support for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in Arizona has dropped to its lowest numbers in 21 years, while Gov. Jan Brewer’s approval rose among registered Republicans, but fell overall.

The Rocky Mountain poll of 700 people statewide surveyed April 3-16 found
even before his recent support of tougher background checks for gun buyers, McCain’s job approval rating in Arizona was 26 percent.

Only 21 percent believe that McCain deserves another six-year term. In 2010, his job approval rating was 40
percent.

The drop in public support for McCain has been ongoing since 2006, when he had
a 63 percent favorable rating, said Earl de Berge, polling director for the
Phoenix-based Behavioral Research Institute. The new poll shows just 26 percent
of respondents gave McCain an excellent or good job rating, while 36 percent
said he was doing a poor or very poor job.

“I think that one of the patterns that we’ve seen is that slowly but surely
his popularity with Democrats has waned, and then with independents, and now it
has waned with Republicans,” de Berge said. “When you get that dynamic in all
three of the major parties, that begins to have an effect that’s kind of hard to
reverse.”

“Senator McCain doesn’t pay much attention to polls — whether they’re up or
down,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in an email.

There are several reasons McCain’s standing may be slipping in his home state,
de Berge said. One is his focus on national and international issues instead of
Arizona-specific issues. Another is his changed views on overhauling the
nation’s immigration laws, which moved from supporting the overhaul, to
opposition during his 2010 re-election campaign, to being a member of the Gang
of Eight negotiating a new immigration overhaul this year.

He’s also likely been hurt by his professed pleasure at being a maverick
willing to buck his party.

“I think the one thing that’s pretty clear is when you position yourself as
maverick on issues, you may also pay the price for that over time,” de Berge
said. “Each little constituency has a particular issue that’s its concerned
with, and he’s been proud of his record of taking on the party on some issues,
and over time, little by little, that whittles down that base of loyalty.”

However, for those politicians pondering a challenge to McCain when’s he up for
re-election in 2016, de Berge urged caution.

“He is one tough campaigner,” he said. “He’s shown a lot of people that he
can come back from significant difficulties.”

A lot depends on whether McCain gets a significant opponent during his
re-election effort.

“But right now it’s clear that he’s not in the best odor with voters that I’m
certain he hopes for. And if he’s going to make another run for it, he’s going
to have to probably pay more attention to what’s going on in Arizona than what’s
going on in D.C.,” de Berge said.

Brewer, meanwhile, dropped from 37 percent between January 2012 and April 2013, but her April-to-April ratings increased among registered Republicans, from 53 percent to 55 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.