Christie's unpopularity part of national trend

by: the_promised_land

Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 01:00:00 PM EDT

Turns out that Chris Christie is not the only extremist right-wing Governor with upside-down popularity ratings.

In fact, according to an analysis by the New York Times' Nate Silver, he's got good company among the right-wing crop of Governors elected in 2010 that Christie's election in 2009 presaged.

Rick Scott (Florida), John Kasich (Ohio), George LePage (Maine), Scott Walker (Wisconsin), and Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania), all new Republican governors in 2010, are all even more unpopular than Christie. Rick Snyder (Michigan) and Rick Perry (Texas - reelected in 2010) are doing just a bit better than Christie.

Democrats, on the whole, are significantly more popular - 11 of the 14 most popular Governors are Democrats, while 14 of the 17 least popular Governors are Republicans. Incredible, huh? Silver's explanation is that Republicans in more moderate-to-left states like NJ, FL, and WI govern the same as in extreme states, while Democrats adapt their policies to the political leanings of their states.

What does this all mean? More below the fold...

the_promised_land :: Christie's unpopularity part of national trend

(a) The extreme right-wing is pursuing their agenda, popularity be damned. They see things as a decades-long fight. If they can chip away at major things they oppose - whether by gutting Medicare, appointing extremists to the courts, or attacking unions, they move the playing field for a long time - and that's even more valuable to them then winning the next election (though they are also working to undermine the electoral system through strategies like purging voter rolls so maybe they'll win anyway).

(b) Progressives and even moderates have a great opportunity to get the public on board with an agenda that responds to the unpopular policies being pursued. In New Jersey, this is being effectively done by the pro-women's health groups and the local charter school vote requirement movement which is really cool and mobilizing key swing constituencies, to name a couple. Finding more opportunities like this and pushing hard could push people like Christie into a corner where they are so extreme that they are delegitimized, or even recalled.

As an aside, it's amazing that when Obama's popularity ratings are in the high 40s, he's vulnerable, but when Christie is in the low 40s, he's seen as a presidential savior.