Read ’em and weep.
Here’s the summary of the 2015 Arkansas Poll at the University of Arkansas. Highlights:
* Top problem: Economy
* Asa Hutchinson: Approval: 63 percent among very likely voters (versus 70 percent for Mike Beebe in his last year.
* Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton approval: 45 and 51 percent, respectively, among very likely voters. (But 38 and 45 among all surveyed).
* President Obama: Holding about steady with a 66 percent DISapproval rating among very likely voters.
* Presidential politics: 50 percent of very likely voters said they’d likely vote Republican if the election was today; 31 percent Democrat.
* State services: Respondents were generally satisfied, with notable exceptions being the welfare system (27 percent satisfied) and highways (40 percent).
* Abortion: Deep split continues. 46 percent of very likely voters would make it more difficult to obtain. 12 percent would make it easier. 30 percent would say no change. Others didn’t answer. This moves several points in the anti-abortion direction from the previous year.
* Gun control: 36 percent of likely voters would make it stricter; 12 percent less strict, and 38 percent no change. 52 percent support open carry.
* Death penalty: 73 percent support.
* Medical marijuana: 68 percent support.
* Same-sex marriage: 27 percent of very likely voters said such marriages should be recognized, 64 percent said no.
* Equal rights for gays: 72 percent support equal rights for gay people in housing and 80 percent in employment.
* Health reform law: Still a loser. 27 percent of very likely voters have a favorable feeling; 53 percent are unfavorable.
* Global warming: 50 percent think it’s exaggerated. 65 percent said it posed no threat in their lifetime. 48 percent said rising temperatures are due to natural causes, not human.
* Immigration: Only 26 percent want to deport all in country with documentation. Some 60 percent would allow them to stay if they learned English and paid taxes (which most already do).
* Political identification: Among likely voters, 32 percent said they considered themselves Republican and 32 percent Democrat. But independents split 52-20 as closer to Republican.
* Direction: 69 percent said Arkansas was heading in the right direction, despite another finding of a sharp growth in concerns about the economy.
The telephone survey of 800 was done Oct. 19-25. Comprehensive poll information here.
Belated note: The poll sample skewed whiter and older than the state as a whole, perhaps because of the preponderance of use of landline telephone numbers.