Poll: Less than half of Iowans approve of gov.

Less than half of Iowans polled approve of Gov. Terry Branstad's job after a month in office.

The Iowa Poll commissioned by the Des Moines Register shows 45 percent of Iowans are pleased with Branstad's performance.

Branstad was governor from 1982 until 1998. The Republican returned to the office last month and has proposed a tight budget freezes education spending and cuts hundreds of state jobs.

The poll shows three-fourths of Iowans questioned are skeptical he'll meet his goal of 200,000 new jobs in the next five years and even more are skeptical he can increase family incomes by 25 percent.

The poll was based on 800 interviews with adult Iowans contacted Feb. 13-16 by landline or cell phone. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.