Sen. Ted Cruz (R-CN) and his sidekick, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
In June, Utah Sen. Mike Lee's net favorable rating was +9, with 50 percent of the state rating him favorably and 41 percent rating him unfavorably. Four months and one government shutdown later, his net rating is now -11, a drop of 20 points, with just 40 percent rating him favorably and 51 percent giving him a thumbs down.
The poll, conducted by the Center For the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, does not use traditional sampling techniques, instead surveying a panel of Utah voters identified over the past several election cycles. Based on response rates, the margin of error would be ±3.2 percent, but according to the pollsters, their survey design means the true margin of error is "slightly higher."
According to the poll, 57 percent of Utah voters—including 99 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents—want Lee to compromise on his shutdown strategy. Lee, however, is in good standing with tea partiers: 90 percent of them support him.
Lee told the Salt Lake City Tribune that he didn't care about the poll's numbers:
"The only numbers I’m concerned with are the percentage of Utahns who are feeling the negative effects of Obamacare through lost jobs, wages, hours and health care," the senator said in a statement.
How very noble of him. The only problem for him is that according to these numbers, most Utah voters disagree. There is, however, some good news for Mike: His buddy Ted conducted a poll on the shutdown, and
found out that voters across America overwhelmingly approve of the duo's antics. And when Ted Cruz says something, you know it's true.
