Polls
A pair of job-approval polls for liberal Republican governors — Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist — were released last week.
Only 27 percent of poll respondents approve of Schwarzenegger’s job performance. That’s the lowest approval rating for any California governor in 50 years – except for the 22 percent approval rating the Field Poll delivered in 2003 to then-Gov. Gray Davis, the man Schwarzenegger replaced six years ago in a statewide recall election…
Schwarzenegger’s disapproval rating – 65 percent – was also the highest of his six-year term in office. The negative feelings toward the governor were consistent across demographic and geographic lines across the state.
Fifty-nine percent of Republicans surveyed disapproved of the GOP governor, giving him no political base to watch his back. Davis had 41 percent Democratic support during his darkest days in office, DiCamillo said.
“He’s almost a governor without a party,” O’Connor said of Schwarzenegger.
Charlie Crist’s statewide popularity has dipped below the halfway mark for the first time. The survey … indicated that Crist still has positive numbers across Florida — 48-percent approval, compared to 41-percent disapproval of his overall job performance. But his ratings have been running in the 60- to 70-percent range.
Both these results appear to be incredibly high. Schwarzenegger is nearly as unloved within his own party as he is by the left, but likely has a thin Teflon veneer that is residual from his status as a movie star. Without it, his approval ought to be around 20 percent, tops.
But what is up in Florida? It’s hard to imagine a pol more universely reviled than Crist — at least that’s how it appears here on the Left Coast.
Fortunately, we have no less than two editors who specialize in Florida politics on hand, so let’s pose the question to them.
What is up with Charlie Crist and these astronomically high approval numbers?
Topics: Polls
Most of Florida is tuning out the governor’s race (McCollum who? Sink what?) and the Senate race even more. Those with a preference (i.e., a clue) on the Republican side back Marco Rubio, who although he is to the right of that place on the dial where the right ends, seems to have thoughts in his head that do not concern schmoozing; living a rich, full, expensive life in the closet; and photo ops. Indeed, one observer noted Charlie’s recent performance during the release of an endangered green sea turtle in the Keys as making a quick speech, kneeling for the camera with his hand on the animal’s shell, and then grabbing an antibacterial wipe from his aide on the way out moments later.
All that said, paying attention isn’t a requirement of poll participation. For the vast majority who pay absolutely no attention, Charlie seems O.K. He’s that tanned guy who holds environmental summits and married that hot woman. And it’s not his fault Florida’s economy is so far down that it would have to climb a very high ladder just to be considered bad again. At least he tried to take on the insurance companies who were beating up homeowners. Yeah, Charlie’s O.K.
The reality is that Charlie will sleep with your paraplegic mother if he thinks it will benefit him, and the “environmental governor” backed and signed laws that gut growth controls and environmental protection, something we in Florida have only yet to deal with. When the economy picks up again and the speculators take advantage of the set-up Charlie has provided them, the voters might try to figure out who sold them down the Indian River. But by then, Charlie will be in Washington, living in the style to which he and his beard wife are accustomed, socializing like nobody’s business and occasionally voting for a law that he won’t have to live with, like opening up Florida’s shores to oil drilling.
Bottom line: Most people can tell you more of the particulars about Balloon Boy and his psycho family than they can about how our elected officials govern. Crist and Schwarzenegger and a whole lot of other people would be out on their butts if this were not true — and they’re counting on it that staying that way.
I predict a reality show based on politics in the very near future. It’s about the only realm left that hasn’t been covered, and it’s perfect for the format. Pick someone young and charismatic, say Marco Rubio for example, and follow him or her through a campaign and into office. It’s a natural for the genre and it might even get people interested in government. Who do I talk to about this?
The first word that comes to mind about California politics is “boring.” The revelations a few weeks ago that the GOP gov candidate, Meg Whitman, had failed to register to vote until she was 46 — which probably seems a bit mild to outsiders — was like a political tsunami, compared with the day to day ebb and flow.
Schwarzenegger’s political management has been a lot more Bob Shrum than Karl Rove, meaning he has a tin ear and when it’s time to go for the jugular, he uses a cudgel instead of a surgical knife.
Still, I wouldn’t say Californians are tuned into what’s going on in Sacramento any more than Floridians are to goings-on in Tallahassee. Maybe the reason Schwarzenegger’s polling is arguably more accurate than Charlie’s is that Arnold came in with so much bluster, driving around the state with that fucking broom, bragging about how he was going to clean up the state.
Not only did that not happen, he presided over the state when the deficit more than doubled the mere $14 billion we owed under Gov. Davis, the Democrat he ousted in the recall.
Plus, if you think he’s tiresome in sound bites, imagine being exposed to all that bravado and towel-snapping on a regular basis for six years and counting. Let’s just say, you probably won’t be surprised to learn he does not wear well.
I think the reason Charlie is polling artificially high is racial. It looks like his likely Democrat contender for the Senate seat (provided he gets past Herr Rubio in the primary) will be a young black man, Kendrick Meek.
Floridians waltzed down that primrose lane last November. Now, after the unemployment, the near-Depression, Gitmo, Iraq and Chaosistan, they think they tried the noble experiment and — just as they always suspected in their heart of hearts — it didn’t work.
Also, Jon, you haven’t seen it, but Charlie has this weird Svengali-like, soporific effect on Florida voters. They don’t get excited, they don’t cheer, they just kind of go into a trace and go vote Republican. When they were upset about property taxes, Charlie calmed them down. He didn’t do anything about it, but he made them forget their troubles.
The effect apparently does not work outside our state’s border.
Hey Buck, surprise (!) but I gotta disagree with you. The people who were answering this poll couldn’t list Charlie’s opponents if you gave them every major state newspaper, Google, and four days and nights to do the research. Also, the question was on how much they approve of Crist’s job as governor, not whether they will vote for him for the Senate.
I do agree about his, if not feel-good effect, then let’s just call it feel-O.K. effect. I guess we can thank the taciturn Jeb for that. Charlie is in the same position as Obama as far as having people love him just for not having the last name Bush. I think it’s pretty much a career-booster to follow a Bush in office. The bar is just so much lower for you: Let’s see…don’t be an arrogant, obnoxious asshole. Check!
What is puzzling, though, is the fact that Schwarzenegger doesn’t get what you might call bad press in these parts. Sure, there’s criticism of him and the papers are full of bad news, but there is no one thing, no particular scandal or policy, that is pushing Arnold’s numbers down. In other words, he’s not unpopular because of his work — it’s him — his noxious personality.
He’s been in office long enough now so that the brief tenure of the hated predecessor, the bland Gov. Davis, is a blip and a forgotten one at that.
The other factor in the different outcomes is that the GOP is in a shambles here, and may likely never recover. Schwarzenegger has not helped them, nor does he (or anyone) fear them.
Still, color me flabbergasted about Charlie’s numbers. Truly amazing.
For anyone interested in why Florida’s not so sure about Charlie, follow FakeCharlieC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FakeCharlieC. Pretty damn funny but not a big reach.