A poll released this week shows 52.8 percent of the respondents believe Gov. John Baldacci is doing an excellent/good job.

If you break it down a little further, you'll see 1.8 percent rated him "excellent" and 51 percent said "good."

On the negative side of the ledger, 45 percent rated him "poor" or "very poor." Only 2.3 percent didn't have an opinion.

The Pan Atlantic SMS Group Omnibus Poll, which calls itself "the benchmark of Maine public opinion," gathered the opinions of 400 Maine adults using a computer aided telephone interviewing system.

The computer asked those who participated in the poll this question:

"John Baldacci has been in office as Maine's Governor for almost six years. How would you rate the job Governor Baldacci has done thus far?"

The options, which were rotated, were: excellent, good, poor, very poor, don't know.

Pan Atlantic has been asking similar questions since August 2005. Here's how it's played out over time:

•August 2005: excellent/good 49.6 percent; very poor/poor 49.1 percent

•July 2006: excellent/good 62.3 percent; very poor/poor 35.9 percent

•May 2007: excellent/good 56.1 percent; very poor/poor 41 percent

•Sept. 2007: excellent/good 63.6 percent; very poor/poor 33.6 percent

•June 2008: excellent/good 52.8 percent; very poor/poor 45.1 percent