Has Gov. Patrick hit an iceberg? And if he loses next year, will the hearts of progressives go on?

Governor Deval Patrick, in his first detailed comments on a Globe poll showing that he is struggling politically, told reporters yesterday that he was dismayed by the numbers but that they were the price he paid for making difficult decisions.

“I’m not happy about the poll,’’ Patrick said. “Who would be? But I also appreciate - and I think most people in the public do - that we have nothing but tough choices in front of us right now and those choices affect people, whether they are cuts, or reforms, or what have you. And because we aren’t running from those hard questions and tough choices, people are going to be sometimes upset.’’

Patrick, who faces budget problems that are likely to worsen, said he expects people’s frustration with the state of the economy to hurt his poll numbers.

“Campaigns are about explaining what we’ve done, and more importantly where we’re going, and we’ll have an opportunity in the campaign to do just that,’’ he said. “And the people will have an opportunity to choose whether they want to go forward or go backward.’’

Asked whether he regretted signing a nearly $1 billion boost in state taxes, the bulk of which take effect Saturday, he said: “I think it was the right fiscal decision. I did it reluctantly, but not without [ensuring] that members of the public wouldn’t be paying for the same old, same old.’’

“The reelection will come,’’ he continued. “We have an opportunity through the campaign to explain why we make the judgments we do, how difficult the decisions are before us all, not only state government.’’

The poll, which was conducted for the Globe by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, found that public confidence in Patrick had dropped dramatically and that he is running behind or even with his prospective rivals in next year’s race.

UPDATE: From Michael Graham, Andrea Estes, Matt Collette, Hillary Chabot, State House News Service, NECN and the Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Politico.com, Massachusetts Matters, Red Mass Group, Boston Globe and Boston Herald.