Pawlenty's approval rating drops 11 percentage points (Thud!)

[katinmn]

Posted on Thu, Jul. 14, 2005
Pawlenty's approval rating takes a tumble

BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press

After Minnesota's first government shutdown, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's popularity has dropped sharply, according to a statewide poll released this week.

Pawlenty's job approval rating dropped to 43 percent in the SurveyUSA poll conducted last weekend. Fifty percent of the respondents disapproved of the Republican governor's performance.

Pawlenty's rating has fallen 11 percentage points in the three months since SurveyUSA started conducting 50 separate but concurrent statewide polls for 50 television stations across the country. He went from 54 percent approval in May to 48 percent in June and 43 percent this month.

The governor saw his nose dive coming. "I fully expect my approval ratings are going to be in the toilet after this," he said.

-more-
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/12127125.htm

[kikiek]

1. About time! Kudos to the dems for not allowing him to rob MN Care

to balance his budget.

[trotsky]

2. There was a LTTE not long ago

that probably resonated with a lot of people. It basically noted who each party in the budget battle was fighting for.

Dean Johnson & the DFLers: children, the elderly, the poor

Timmy the Tool, "Chief" Sviggum, and the 'pukes: the racino owners and the wealthy

Maybe even some Minnesota Republicans are waking up?

[dodger501]

3. Best of luck with that presidential bid, Tim!

You're going to need a hell of a lot more support than the Tax Evaders League from here on out, pal.

If you were a better man, I might have felt sorry for you, but . . .

[katinmn]

4. He got pretty soft treatment by the PP's political reporter, IMO

I wonder how the Strib is reporting this.

[dodger501]

6. Tim Penny and Kevin Featherly nailed him, though:

I don't have today's Pioneer Porn in front of me but I almost choked on my raisin bran when I read the line about someone asking ToolTime why he doesn't mediate between the two sides. He replies that he is a Republican, not a mediator.
What a f@#$%ing dick!

You know, of all the Republican governors I have known, I never once had the impression that they did not represent me as well.

Never mind, I found the link:

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/12125291.htm

Here is the exact quote:

Finally, he played the blame game, saying it was all the Democrats' fault. When challenged by the media to continue mediating the budget dispute, he responded that he was a Republican, not a mediator.

So, how's that blame game working out for you, ToolTime?

[dflprincess]

8. In the past the main difference between DFLers and Republicans

was not what the goals for the state were, but how to achieve them (I think Elmer Anderson said that not long before he died).

I think we should all send Timmy copies of the Time cover Wendell Anderson was on with "The Good Life in Minnesota" headline just to remind him how we used to be viewed.

Or maybe a doctored cover with Timmy's picture and the headline "Minnesota - a cold Alabama". (Okay, it's not that bad yet, but give Timmy and his pals some more time.)

[CatholicEdHead]

10. Yes it was

very civil for a long time. It was the 1990's when the "New Republicans" started to take power. That was when they kicked Arne Carlson out (or Arne left, not sure which one), he ran and beat the "endorced" canidiate that year.

[northernsoul]

5. We have to keep pounding on him

People have short memories and Governor Gimmick is a superficially affable guy. He'll bounce back by 2006 if we let up on him. LTTEs, watecooler conversations, whatever... there needs to be an unrelenting message that this guy can't govern this state anymore.

[Demrock6]

7. Cant any more implys at one time he could run the state!

:-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I take heart from the LTTE reaction to that idiotic

commentary by Jason Lewis. (It sounds as if Jesse Helms country is perfect for him.)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/563/5505383.html

[jean]

11. pfff - now he can say he's right (predicting his drop into the toilet)

[CrazyForKucinich]

12. now if only we had IRV

we could boot him from office next year. 43% approval is close to his 45% that won it for him in 2002.

[electron_blue]

13. "it's not my fault"

How come this is all I heard Pawlenty say in regards to the shutdown?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. I don't know about Timmy's standing with the Republicanites

First, he fails to turn Minnesota red, and now he fails to kick the working poor off their health insurance plans or block education funding.

He's going to see how fast the Busheviks drop him.

[no name no slogan]

16. He's in rough shape even with the local GOP

His hand-picked chair (Ron Ebensteiner) was ousted at the last GOP Central Committee meeting, he basically blew the 2004 election BIG TIME, and now his popularity is in the sewer.

Stick a fork in Timmy, he's DONE!

[indigo32]

17. Oh yeah

and lets keep it that way....

David Strom and Michael Wigley: If Pawlenty wants to keep his base, he'd better change his ways
David Strom and Michael Wigley
July 17, 2005 STROM0717

Much has been made recently about Gov. Tim Pawlenty's decision to abandon his no-new-taxes pledge and propose an increase in the tobacco tax. And with good reason. For three years, since Pawlenty started campaigning for the job, he has insisted that "Minnesota doesn't have a tax problem, it has a spending problem."

The very first commercial Pawlenty ran in the campaign made the promise that he was "the only candidate running who won't raise your taxes."

Sure, Pawlenty still insists that the tobacco tax increase is really a "health impact fee," not a tax. But outside the reality-challenged bubble of the governor's office, nobody seems to be fooled by these verbal gymnastics. In fact, many of Pawlenty's Republican allies at the Capitol have long ago dropped the "fee" language and openly admit that this is a tax increase to balance the budget, including Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, House Tax Committee Chairman Phil Krinkie, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jim Knoblach.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/5509197.html

[CatholicEdHead]

18. Not all good news

the Taxpayers League will then find a new figurehead like Brian Sullivan or someone else who will try to toe the line.

Remember the GOP Governor Primary, Pawlenty had to give in to get the nomination in the first place.

[loveable liberal]

15. Fee Pawlenty! n/t

msm lets him get by with saying fee all the time. Bastards.

[CatholicEdHead]

19. Sullivan/Taxpayers League still behind Pawlenty

On today's Midday on MPR, they had Brian Sullivan on. He of course use the same cliched "liberal democrats" talking points over and over (mentioned you had to go back 40 years to find another "conservative Republican governor", so I guess Arne and others did not count).

He said that while he was disappointed with the past session, he blames the "liberal Democrats" more than Pawlenty. Sullivan and the Taxpayers League apparently still back Pawlenty for 2006. Sullivan will not run in 2006, but he may run again later.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/programs/midday/

Here is the archive:
http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/news/midday/2005/07/21_midday1

"Current show: Thursday, July 21, 2005
HOUR 1: (11 a.m.)
What did session 2005 mean for Minnesota Republicans?
Listen

Gov. Tim Pawlenty vowed not to sign any more political pledges Tuesday, saying that he still didn't support tax hikes but that his no-new-taxes pledge had become "a distraction." Pawlenty's support for a 75-cent-a-pack cigarette "fee" and a failed proposal for a state-sponsored casino angered parts of his conservative base. How will the 2005 legislative session affect Republican politics in Minnesota?

Guests:
Brian Sullivan, who narrowly lost the 2002 Republican Party endorsement to Pawlenty, is currently the CEO of the Maple Grove-based medical device reprocessor SterilMed. Sullivan is also a committeeman for the Republican National Committee.

Related Links:
Document MPR coverage of Sullivan's gubernatorial campaign
Document Web Resource: SterilMed
Document Share your views in the News Forum."

[Deja Q]

20. Wow! And after his WCCO buddies tried spinning it to blame the dems!

I forgot his name, last name starts with a K as I recall... blatant spinning on his part...

Let's hope people wake up even further, his % rating should be closer to 30%.