Western New England University Polling Institute in partnership with The Republican newspaper and MassLive.

com February 23-March 1, 2012

TABLES Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president? Obama Job Approval Approve Feb.23 March 1, 2012 Party ID** Adults Registered voters Democrat Republican Independent Gender Age Male Female 18-29 30-49 50-64 65 and older Education High school or less Some college College graduate Western MA Central MA North / South Shore Boston and suburbs Feb. 2009 Adults Registered voters 56% 55% 87% 21% 41% 49% 60% Disapprove 35% 37% 7% 79% 49% 43% 31% Dont know/ Refused 9% 8% 6% 0% 10% 8% 8% N* 576 527 194 63 241 251 276

***
51% 61% 53% 39% 53% 61% 60% 42% 54% 58% 68% 68%

***
40% 34% 40% 46% 40% 32% 33% 48% 36% 35% 11% 11%

***
9% 6% 7% 15% 7% 6% 7% 10% 9% 7% 21% 22%

***
153 193 150 107 119 300 97 62 164 202 569 524

Region

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. ** Party identification was measured with the following question: In politics today, do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, Independent or something else? ***Subgroup contains fewer than 40 respondents.

Next, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the following people. If you haven't heard of them or don't have an opinion of them, just tell me and we'll move on.
(The following questions were preceded by questions that measured favorability for U.S. Senate candidates Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren. The names of the presidential candidates were

rotated in random order in the survey.)

Favorable Unfavorable Ratings for Barack Obama Favorable Unfavorable 34% 6% 79% 46% Havent heard of 0% 0% 0% 0% No opinion 3% 3% 2% 4% Refused 1% 1% 0% 1% N* 527 194 63 241

Feb. 23 March 1, 2012

Party Identification

Registered voters Democrat Republican Independent

61% 90% 19% 50%

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

Favorable Unfavorable Ratings for Mitt Romney Favorable Unfavorable 46% 70% 12% 37% Havent heard of 1% 1% 0% 0% No opinion 11% 9% 12% 12% Refused 2% 0% 2% 2% N* 527 194 63 241

Feb. 23 March 1, 2012

Party Identification

Registered voters Democrat Republican Independent

41% 21% 74% 48%

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

Favorable Unfavorable Ratings for Rick Santorum Favorable Unfavorable 54% 65% 48% 50% Havent heard of 7% 8% 2% 6% No opinion 16% 14% 12% 17% Refused 5% 2% 4% 6% N* 527 194 63 241

Feb. 23 March 1, 2012

Party Identification

Registered voters Democrat Republican Independent

18% 10% 33% 21%

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

Favorable Unfavorable Ratings for Newt Gingrich Favorable Unfavorable 73% 84% 60% 71% Havent heard of 2% 2% 0% 1% No opinion 7% 3% 6% 9% Refused 3% 2% 2% 4% N* 527 194 63 241

Feb. 23 March 1, 2012

Party Identification

Registered voters Democrat Republican Independent

14% 9% 32% 15%

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

As you probably know, voters will elect the president of the United States in November. If the election for president were held today, and the candidates were Barack Obama, the Democrat, and Mitt Romney, the Republican, would you vote for Barack Obama, the Democrat, Mitt Romney, the Republican, or some other candidate for president? (If no preference is stated): At this moment do you lean more toward Barack Obama, the Democrat, or Mitt Romney, the Republican? (Names were rotated in random order in the initial and follow-up questions. Initial preferences and preferences of leaning voters in the follow-up question were combined in the table below.)
Voter Preferences for the Presidency Registered Voters Obama Romney 36% 5% 90% 48% 42% 31% Dont know / Undecided 4% 1% 2% 5% 4% 4% Refused 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% N* 527 194 63 241 251 276

Feb. 23 Registered voters March 1, 2012

Party Identification Democrat Republican Independent Gender Age Male Female 18-29 30-49 50-64 65 and older Education High school or less Some college College graduate Western MA Central MA North / South Shore Boston and suburbs

60% 94% 8% 46% 53% 65%

**
56% 66% 53% 54% 58% 62% 66% 46% 55% 65%

**
39% 32% 42% 39% 37% 35% 31% 44% 40% 32%

**
4% 2% 6% 5% 4% 3% 4% 10% 4% 2%

**
0% 1% 0% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 1% 0%

**
153 193 150 107 119 300 97 62 164 202

Region

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. **Subgroup contains fewer than 40 respondents.

Initial Voter Preferences for the Presidency (Without Leaners) Registered Voters Obama

Romney
33% 4% 86% 44% 38% 29%

Some other candidate 7% 1% 4% 12% 11% 4%

Wouldnt vote 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0%

Dont know / Undecided 3% 1% 2% 4% 4% 2%

Refused 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 1%

N* 527 194 63 241 251 276

Feb. 23 March 1, Registered voters 2012

Party Identification Gender Age Democrat Republican Independent Male Female 18-29 30-49 50-64 Education 65 and older High school or less Some college College graduate Western MA Central MA North / South Shore Boston and suburbs

56% 94% 8% 40% 47% 64%

**
50% 64% 51% 46% 56% 59% 60% 40% 51% 61%

**
37% 29% 36% 34% 35% 32% 26% 40% 39% 29%

**
10% 5% 6% 18% 4% 5% 11% 16% 6% 6%

**
0% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0%

**
2% 1% 7% 1% 2% 4% 0% 4% 3% 3%

**
0% 1% 1% 0% 2% 0% 2% 0% 1% 0%

**
153 193 150 107 119 300 97 62 164 202

Region

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding **Subgroup contains fewer than 40 respondents.

If the election for president were held today, and the candidates were Barack Obama, the Democrat, and Rick Santorum, the Republican, would you vote for Barack Obama, the Democrat, Rick Santorum, the Republican, or some other candidate for president? (If no preference is stated): At this moment do you lean more toward Barack Obama, the Democrat, or Rick Santorum, the Republican? (Names were rotated in random order in the initial and follow-up questions. Initial preferences and preferences of leaning voters in the follow-up question were combined in the table below.)
Voter Preferences for the Presidency Registered Voters Obama Santorum 27% 5% 71% 34% 31% 24% Dont know / Undecided 6% 1% 6% 10% 7% 6% Refused 1% 1% 0% 1% 1% 0% N* 527 194 63 241 251 276

Feb. 23 Registered voters March 1, 2012

Party Identification Democrat Republican Independent Gender Age Male Female 18-29 30-49 50-64 65 and older Education High school or less Some college College graduate Western MA Central MA North / South Shore Boston and suburbs

66% 94% 23% 56% 61% 70%

**
63% 69% 58% 58% 57% 71% 73% 50% 60% 72%

**
28% 26% 34% 30% 34% 23% 26% 38% 32% 21%

**
8% 5% 7% 10% 7% 5% 2% 12% 6% 6%

**
0% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 0% 0% 1% 0%

**
153 193 150 107 119 300 97 62 164 202

Region

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. **Subgroup contains fewer than 40 respondents.

Initial Voter Preferences for the Presidency (Without Leaners) Registered Voters Obama Santorum 24% 4% 60% 30% 27% 21% Some other candidate 11% 4% 19% 14% 13% 9% Wouldnt vote 1% 1% 0% 2% 0% 2% Dont know / Undecided 3% 1% 2% 4% 3% 3% Refused 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% N* 527 194 63 241 251 276

Feb. 23 March 1, Registered voters 2012

Party Identification Gender Age Democrat Republican Independent Male Female 18-29 30-49 50-64 Education 65 and older High school or less Some college College graduate Western MA Central MA North / South Shore Boston and suburbs

61% 91% 19% 50% 56% 66%

**
57% 69% 54% 50% 56% 67% 69% 43% 57% 68%

**
27% 22% 24% 27% 28% 21% 20% 35% 28% 19%

**
13% 6% 13% 16% 10% 8% 11% 14% 10% 10%

**
0% 1% 1% 2% 2% 0% 0% 2% 1% 1%

**
2% 2% 7% 4% 2% 3% 0% 6% 4% 3%

**
0% 1% 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 1% 0%

**
153 193 150 107 119 300 97 62 164 202

Region

* Subsamples are unweighted Ns, and consist of registered voters. Row percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding **Subgroup contains fewer than 40 respondents.

METHODOLOGY The Western New England University Polling Institute conducted telephone interviews with 576 adults ages 18 and older drawn from across Massachusetts using random-digit-dialing Feb. 23 through March 1, 2012. The sample yielded 527 adults who said they are registered to vote in Massachusetts. Unless otherwise noted, the figures in this release are based on the statewide sample of registered voters. The Polling Institute dialed household telephone numbers, known as landline numbers, and cell phone numbers for the survey. In order to draw a representative sample from the landline numbers, interviewers first asked for the youngest male age 18 or older who was home at the time of the call, and if no adult male was present, the youngest female age 18 or older who was at home at the time of the call. Interviewers dialing cell phone numbers interviewed the respondent who answered the cell phone after confirming three things: (1) that the respondent was in a safe setting to complete the survey; (2) that the respondent was an adult age 18 or older; and (3) that the respondent was a resident of Massachusetts. The landline and cell phone data were combined and weighted to reflect the adult population of Massachusetts by gender, race, age, and county of residence using U.S. Census estimates for Massachusetts. All surveys are subject to sampling error, which is the expected probable difference between interviewing everyone in a population versus a scientific sampling drawn from that population. The sampling error for a sample of 576 adults is +/- 4.1 percent, and for a sample of 527 registered voters is +/- 4.3 percent, at a 95 percent confidence interval. Thus if 55 percent of registered voters said they approved of the job that Barack Obama is doing as president, one would be 95 percent sure that the true figure would be between 50.7 percent and 59.3 percent (55 percent +/- 4.3 percent) had all Massachusetts voters been interviewed, rather than just a sample. Sampling error increases as the sample size decreases, so statements based on various population subgroups are subject to more error than are statements based on the total sample. Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording, or context effects.