Insane GOP Governors Walker, Kasich and Snyder would lose in do-over elections

Posted on March 23, 2011

It comes as no surprise when the Republicans try to overstep as soon as they get out of the gate that they will see their approval numbers plummet. They also drag down with them anyone who falls for their antics and this should come as a matter of political survival for other Republicans who feel that rubber-stamping their policies is a good thing.
It turns out that buyer’s remorse is indeed in the works for what some call the Three Stooges of politics.
In Wisconsin, Gov. Walker promised to make tough decisions on state spending, and beat Democrat Tom Barret 52% to 46% on election day. But when PPP polled the state in late February, they found that Walker would lose a do-over election by a seven-point margin.
After taking office, Walker, citing a budget shortfall, began to push a measure to strip most state employees of the right to collectively bargain on non-pay related issues, a proposal that deadlocked the state legislature as Democratic lawmakers fled to Illinois to stall the bill.
As the stalemate played out, Walker’s approval rating took a nose dive. By late February, PPP found that nearly six in ten voters in the state disapproved of his job performance.
In Ohio, a similar story has played out for Gov. Kasich, who also ran on a platform of reining in government spending. In November, Kasich defeated incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) 49% to 47%.
By mid-March, PPP found Kasich’s approval rating deep underwater, with just 35% of voters approving of his job performance, compared to 54% who disapproved. Furthermore, in a proposed do-over election, PPP found Kasich losing to Strickland by 15 points.
Kasich began his short tenure with a mini scandal when he called a state trooper an idiot, on camera, three times. He also pushed to strip state union’s of their collective bargaining rights through a bill called SB 5. That bill would actually go further than the one in Wisconsin by not exempting fire and law enforcement unions from the changes.
In his first budget proposal released earlier this month, Kasich aimed to close an $8 billion budget gap largely through cuts to government services, such as a tightening of the eligibility requirements for government-subsidized health care for children in low income families. That has some Ohioans grousing that Kasich’s budget cuts will most hurt the state’s poor.
In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder (R) is facing a backlash of his own.
Last November, Snyder beat Democrat Virg Bernero by a huge 18-point margin. But in a PPP poll released yesterday, registered voters suggested they wish they’d elected Bernero — who won a hypothetical do over, 47% to 45%.