January 1, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tanzania: Politics: State Government: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: Taft bottoms out in ratings poll
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January 1, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tanzania: Politics: State Government: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: Taft bottoms out in ratings poll
Taft bottoms out in ratings poll
Taft was the clear bottom dweller, with an approval rating of just 17percent – 10percentage points lower than fellow Republicans Frank Murkowski of Alaska and Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky. Ohio Governor Robert Taft served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania in the 1960's.
Taft bottoms out in ratings poll
Taft bottoms out in ratings poll
17 percent of Ohioans approve of governor ensnared in ethics scandal
By Dan Balz and Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – The beginning of a new year is always time for making and reviewing lists, and the polling firm Survey USA has provided one for political junkies that charts approval ratings for all 50 of the nation’s governors. Republican Bob Taft of Ohio is at the bottom.
The most popular are hardly household names. The only one among the top 10 with much of a national profile is Virginia’s outgoing governor, Democrat Mark Warner, who is setting his sights on a possible presidential run in 2008 now that he is about to be unemployed.
Among the five least popular are three who are far better known – and who definitely had bad years in 2005: California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who saw his agenda of ballot initiatives soundly rejected in November; Louisiana’s Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a Democrat whose approval rating plummeted after Hurricane Katrina; and Ohio’s Taft, who pleaded no contest to violations of the state’s ethics laws in August.
Indiana’s governor, Republican Mitch Daniels, was ranked No. 40, with an approval rating of 42 percent.
Voters in smaller states seem to be far happier with the performance of their governors than voters in big states. Topping the list, with approval ratings of at least 70percent, were four Republicans: Connecticut’s M. Jodi Rell, who succeeded convicted felon John Rowland; North Dakota’s John Hoeven; South Dakota’s Mike Rounds; and Utah’s Jon Huntsman Jr.
Taft was the clear bottom dweller, with an approval rating of just 17percent – 10percentage points lower than fellow Republicans Frank Murkowski of Alaska and Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky.
The average approval rating for all 50 governors was about 54percent, and Republicans were no more or less popular than Democrats, on average. But there were wide variations among individual governors, with 60 points separating Rell at the top and Taft at the bottom. Thirty of the governors had approval ratings of at least 50percent in December, with 18 of them above 60percent. Seven had ratings below 40percent.
A number of Democratic governors who are in states carried by President Bush in 2004 appear in solid shape heading into their re-election campaigns. Among them are Arizona’s Janet Napolitano, New Mexico’s Bill Richardson, Kansas’s Kathleen Sebelius and Oklahoma’s Brad Henry.
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Story Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Tanzania; Politics; State Government
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