Voters are saying we need someone there who’s not going to rock the boat.

When we tell voters Proposition 78 is supported by the pharmaceutical companies, it weakens support even from the people who are backing it,

That result looks very much like a partisan vote, with any Democrat grabbing that margin among Latinos. That’s an obstacle California Republicans didn’t have to face 10 or 15 years ago.

There is clear confusion on Prop. 78 as to who is backing it, which means it’s the one with the greatest potential for change in preference.

When all is said and done, there’s no Democrat on the horizon who’s the odds-on favorite and there are a lot of unknowns about the Democrats. So when you compare the governor with them, he’s...

The barrage of negative ads seems to be influencing voters and helping to defeat Proposition 79,

Generally speaking, Californians tend to be more open to allowing an individual to make a decision rather than having something prohibited through government fiat.

My interpretation is that some voters are indeed re-evaluating the governor, but they have not yet made up their minds. Last year, they saw the very partisan Republican governor. Now he seems to be a...

It’s always more difficult to change somebody’s mind once they have a negative impression of you. But he can run against an opponent and try to bring him to the same level or even a...

The last time we were this anxious about the future it preceded a few years of recession. The warning flag is out. . . . A couple years of this would lead to some economic...

We’ve seen this before. It’s like murder-suicide both of them get voted down.

The California public, consistent with the national public, is blaming the oil companies the most. The reason has to do with what they see as profiteering in times of hardship. When prices run up, the...

(Brown) still remains among the top tier of personalities in California in terms of name recognition. Eighty percent could offer an opinion one way or the other, even though he has been Oakland mayor and...

It’s a tug of war between two different factions. This seems to indicate that the pro-choice side has gained an advantage.

It’s the increasingly partisan rancor that characterizes the Congress. The very partisan Republican orientation of the House is not very well received. The public wants compromises to be reached and they generally don’t see many...

Many voters are reappraising Schwarzenegger. They’re a little puzzled because they’re not sure which Schwarzenegger they’ll see, the more bipartisan governor or the partisan Republican Schwarzenegger of 2005.

I see real problems for the governor.

To me, that’s one of the most revealing numbers in the survey because it says familiarity with gays and lesbians in your own life has a powerful influence over whether (you think) these couples should...

He really needs some argument that reaches across the aisle to bring in Democrats and nonpartisans,

No one penalty jumps out. Even looking at Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres fans, they want him to play.

That’s one option voters and non-voters embrace. It puts undocumented immigrants into some kind of accounting system.

It’s the direction of change that’s more important in a final poll than the actual numbers. Unfortunately for the governor, the direction of change is moving against him.

So many seats in California are safe, and that’s true nationally, too. So the opportunities for the out-of-power party to gain (seats in Congress) is really not that great. Most observers would say that only...

This is a group that supports very basic government services like education and health care, and they see him as someone who was talking about cutting them back.

There’s not a lot of awareness of most of the down-ballot candidates. Generally speaking, the one who are better known are in the early lead.

they haven’t made any real moves toward organizing a campaign.

This is an issue that could easily arouse Latino voters. Immigration could be a single issue that could bring out more Latino voters in November.

If he granted clemency, I would say, it would be a very divisive opinion. Large segments of the public would take him to task.

I really think he’s down to his base. It’s hard for a politician to get below the 30 percent range. That would mean your own supporters are jumping ship.

The governor has never been able to sell them on the idea and have questioned his motives,

They were just about to be voted out of office, or in the case of Richard Nixon, he was about to resign. Bush still has more than two years to go, so I think we’re...

There are large-scale differences between voters here (on the coast) and voters inland. Within California’s borders, there’s a red-state region that looks a lot like the Midwest.

It wasn’t meant to be a partisan reform initiative, but it is clearly perceived that way and I think that has to do with the governor.

Clearly, he’s in a vulnerable category. His core is sticking with him — and just about everyone else isn’t.

He’s just not the right spokesman when it comes to communicating with Democrats and independents right now. That’s contrasted with a year ago when he was considered a very credible spokesman and had very high...

People have pretty much adjusted to the risk factor of earthquakes and go about their daily lives.

Different groups of people view this issue very differently. Voters tend to be older, whiter and middle class, while unregistered voters tend to be young and immigrant.

This issue wipes out all the divisions in the state. It’s an issue whose time has come. Voters are behind it.

at this stage are still inclined to vote for it.

The question always presents itself: How formidable are the challengers? Early measures show them leading by very narrow margins, and the preferences are party based. It’s way too early to say whether the challengers will...

Changes in the economy are relatively slow to hit the man in the street.

I think there has been an overarching re-evaluation of Bush among some members of his own party.

What we are seeing this year is that he’s pretty much worn out his welcome, especially with Democrats and with nonpartisans, … It almost has a counterproductive impact in this year’s campaign.

I think you will see a bigger than expected turnout among Latinos because of this one issue.

The survey just looked at registered Latino voters. Had it included non-voters and non-citizens, the numbers likely would have been different.

He’s getting more people to be open to his re-election.

I’ve never seen a proposition start out this far behind and pass. It’s monumental the amount of work (the governor) needs to do on this one.

Wilson did a masterful job of talking about illegal immigration — anything but economy and education — and that was the No. 1 issue.

The overall trend for Arnold Schwarzenegger is favorable, but there are a lot of people still in play.

It is a modest improvement. But it is moving in the right direction.