Governor Kasich of Ohio is feeling the wrath of Ohio voters, just as Scott Walker did in Wisconsin.
Both Tea Party supported candidates are watching their numbers tank as they attack American workers in their individual states, and as those American workers register their anger by withdrawing their support for both of these governors.
From Talking Points Memo:
"Kasich barely defeated incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) last November, winning by a slim 49% to 47%. But if they could do it all over again, 55% of voters now say they would vote for Strickland, while only 40% say they'd go with Kasich.
Kasich's short tenure has been marked by several mini-scandals, including an incident last month when he called a police officer who issued him a ticket an idiot -- three times, on camera. Then came the contentious budget debate, when he forcefully pushed for a bill to strip state employees of their collective bargaining rights. That bill goes even further than the one recently passed in Wisconsin, which prompted weeks of enormous protests and has sparked a recall petition for the state's republican senators.
Kasich's approval rating now appears to be deeply underwater. In the poll, only 35% of respondents said they approve of his job performance, while 54% sad they disapprove. In a University of Cincinnati poll released Monday, 30% approved of Kasich's job performance, compared to 52% who disapproved.
If there was any doubt that Kasich's showdown with unions irked his constituents, the PPP poll also addressed that issue, finding that voters overwhelmingly sided with the unions."
And here's the bad news for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker:
"A new Wisconsin Policy Research Institute poll released today revealed that by trying to break the public sector union in the state, Gov. Scott Walker is not only destroying his own popularity, but is making President Obama more popular, and could be handing Wisconsin to the Democrats in 2012.
The WPRI poll found that Wisconsin residents believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction by a 67%-24% margin. However the Republican leadership of Scott Walker has done nothing to convince them that the state is heading in the right direction, as 62% of those surveyed also felt that Wisconsin was on the wrong track. A deeper look into the numbers uncovers that Scott Walker’s attack on collective bargaining is hurting his approval more than anxiety over the economy.
Wisconsities may share a negative perception about the direction of both their state and the country as a whole, but President Obama and Scott Walker’s approval ratings are heading in opposite directions. Wisconsin residents’ approval of the job Obama is doing as president by a 53%-42% margin. The numbers are reversed for Gov. Walker as 53% disapprove and only 43% approve of his job performance. Shockingly among those who disapprove, 45% strongly disapprove of Walker. In contrast only 26% strongly disapprove of Obama."
The working class Americans of Ohio and Wisconsin reject Walker and Kasich's assault on the unions. They will be defeated in the next elections in their states; and, finally, America is waking up to understand that the GOP is no friend of the American worker, and that these two bought and paid for governors are beholden to the corporatists and billionaires who support the GOP in its mission to dismantle everything that supports working class Americans.
IT ISN'T LOOKING GOOD FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRISTIE, EITHER!
The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, isn't doing so well either. Mr. Obama is more popular in New Jersey than the loud-mouthed behemoth GOP governor. Funny, isn't it, how the malcontented conservatives squealed about the size of Al Gore, Michael Moore, and even the fabulously toned and in shape FLOTUS, but are curiously silent about the grossly obese governor of New Jersey. Maybe they just haven't noticed the elephant in the room. He's losing his popularity too:
Poll numbers drop for Gov. Christie among N.J. voters
BY MATT FRIEDMAN
State House Bureau
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
"Governor Christie’s poll numbers have taken a hit since his budget address two weeks ago, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Tuesday morning.
Governor Christie Voters are split on whether they have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Christie, with 46 percent viewing him favorably and 44 percent unfavorably. That’s down significantly from December, when 49 percent of voters saw Christie favorably and 39 percent had an unfavorable impression.
“While some polls showed Gov. Christie’s support increasing before the budget speech, reaction to the budget itself is mixed, which appears to be reflected in a decline in his post-speech favorability and job performance ratings,” said poll director David Redlawsk.
Forty-eight percent of voters said they are displeased with the govenror’s proposed budget, while 45 percent said they are pleased.
When asked to rate Christie’s job performance, 14 percent said excellent, 28 percent said good, 30 percent said fair and 26 percent said poor. Fourteen percent graded him with an A, 24 percent gave him a B, 26 percent gave him a C, 15 percent gave him a D and 19 percent failed him with an F.
President Obama fares better than Christie among Garden State voters, with 57 percent viewing him favorably to 36 percent unfavorably."
The GOP governors are tanking as fast as the half-governor of Alaska is tanking in the polls.
How many times have we read GOPers' comments that liberals are "afraid" of Palin? Ha! We're not afraid of that charlatan, it is the GOP who are wetting their undies, fearful that she'll take votes away from their eventual nominee for the 2012 elections. We liberals would love to see her get the nomination or break out into third party, thereby ensuring an Obama victory in 2012.
Afraid of her? Why would we be afraid of a guaranteed loser????
UPDATE
Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling has more on Ohio Gov. Kasich and the unpopular Ohio senate bill #5:
"The other thing that's worth noting is the independents. A lot of attention has been given to the way what's been going on in Ohio and Wisconsin is galvanizing the Democratic base, but it's also turning independents who were strongly supportive of the GOP in the Midwest last year back against the party. 62% of independents support collective bargaining for public employees to 32% opposed and 53% support repeal of SB 5 to 32% who would let it stand.
All of this is having an absolutely brutal effect on John Kasich's numbers. We find him with just a 35% approval rating and 54% of voters disapproving of him. His approval with people who voted for him is already all the way down to 71%, while he's won over just 5% of folks who report having voted for Ted Strickland last fall. Particularly concerning for him is a 33/54 spread with independents.
Voters in the state are having significant buyers remorse about the results of last fall's election. In a rematch 55% say they would now vote for Ted Strickland to just 40% who would vote for Kasich. Because this is a sample of all registered voters in the state and not just those who voted in last fall's Republican heavy electorate the self identified 2010 vote of this sample is 49% for Strickland and 46% for Kasich but that still suggests a 12 point movement toward Strickland among those surveyed over the last four month.
Of course the reality is that Democratic leaning voters did this to themselves to some extent. It's a small sample but among those who admit they didn't vote last fall, Strickland has a 57-13 advantage over Kaisch. It was a similar story in Wisconsin the other week where Tom Barrett led Scott Walker 59-22 among those who had stayed at home in 2010. Democratic voters simply did not understand the consequences- or didn't care- of their not voting last fall and they're paying the price right now. But the winners of that realization in the long run may be Barack Obama, Sherrod Brown, and Herb Kohl- these states are already looking politically a whole lot more like 2008 than 2010.
It's looking like a tough road ahead for Kasich."
