The FINANCIAL — News of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s marital infidelity and the resulting love child appears to have made a serious dent in the returning movie star's audience base.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% of American Adults now hold an unfavorable view of Schwarzenegger, including 29% who view the former California “governator” Very Unfavorably. Just 25% still have a favorable view of him, with just three percent (3%) who hold a Very Favorable view.
Not that his years in public office have done him much good recently. In October, leading up to Schwarzenegger’s final days as governor, just 35% of California voters even somewhat approved of his job performance, while 64% disapproved. In 2006, when Schwarzenegger was running for reelection, 56% of the state's voters held a favorable view of him.
By contrast, Schwarzenegger’s now estranged wife, Maria Shriver, fares much better. Sixty-two percent (62%) of adults have a favorable opinion of the ex-NBC news anchor and member of the Kennedy clan, including 22% with a Very Favorable view. Just 23% view Shriver unfavorably, with five percent (5%) who view her Very Unfavorably. Fifteen percent (15%) don’t offer an opinion, says Report.
The national survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on May 18-19, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Perhaps not surprisingly, women have an even more negative view of Schwarzenegger than men. Thirty-two percent (32%) of men still view the Terminator favorably, compared to just 20% of women.
When it comes to Shriver, 58% of men and 65% of women view her favorably.
Interestingly, adults without children in their home view Schwarzenegger more negatively than those with children living with them.
The news of Schwarzenegger’s affair has certainly caught the attention of media outlets, but adults have not been following it as much. Forty-five percent (45%) say they have been following news about Schwarzenegger's marital problems, including 17% who have been following it Very Closely. But 53% have not been following the news stories closely, with 16% who have not been following at all. This is slightly less attention than Americans paid to Tiger Woods' misbehavior outside of his marriage and well below the 79% following the recent severe weather in the South and Midwest.
Thirty-five percent (35%), though, think that, when it comes to media coverage, the personal lives of politicians and celebrities should be off-limits. Forty-five percent (45%) disagree and think their personal lives should be fair game. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure.
In 2009, 60% of Americans said there is too much media coverage of President Obama’s personal life and family. A majority of Americans believes the media covers celebrities too much.
Source: Rasmussen Reports
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