Rick Scott Upside Down in New Poll

A Rasmussen Reports poll released on Monday found that Gov. Rick Scott was upside down with Florida voters as his first year in office draws to a close. The poll found that 51 percent of likely voters disapproved of Scotts performance in Tallahassee while 42 percent approved of it.

Still the poll does have some good news for Scott. An overwhelming majority of Democrats -- 76 percent -- disapprove of his performance and he is upside down with independents, with 53 percent disapproving and 38 percent backing the governor. But more than two-thirds of Republicans -- 68 percent -- approve of Scott, no mean accomplishment considering his bitter battle with then-Attorney General Bill McCollum in the 2010 gubernatorial primary. Scott also gets the backing of 50 percent of male voters -- and only 35 percent of female ones -- and is close to being even with white and Hispanic voters.

Scott is also helped by the issue that brought him into political prominence: the federal health-care law backed by President Barack Obama. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed oppose the individual mandate contained in that law and 65 percent think its unconstitutional.

The poll of 500 likely voters was taken on Nov. 17 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.