A week before Election Day, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's (R) political standing looked quite good. He enjoyed a 47% approval rating and fairly comfortable leads against prospective Democratic challengers.
A lot can happen in a month. Since that poll was taken, the Republican governor abandoned his promise to voters and signed a brutal anti-union law, described by the right as a "right to work" measure. A new survey from Public Policy Polling shows the decision has taken a severe toll on Snyder's public standing.
The PPP results show Snyder's approval rating down to just 38%, while 56% disapprove, which suddenly makes him one of the nation's least popular governors. What's more, a 51% majority disapprove of the anti-union law Snyder promised not to pursue, but which he signed last week.
Making matters slightly worse for the Republican, in hypothetical matchups, Snyder "trails every Democrat we tested against him," even though the leading Democratic candidates aren't especially well known statewide (not one has name recognition above 50%).
Even Snyder's brand is shot. You may recall that he ran as a moderate technocrat with no interest in his party's culture war, describing himself as a "tough nerd." PPP found less than a third of Michigan voters consider the governor a "tough nerd" now.
Snyder still has two years before he'll face voters again, which is obviously an enormous amount of time in the context of campaign politics. But it's clear the governor's standing has plummeted, and would have been far stronger had he kept his word to his constituents.
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And we think he actually cares what people think why? Unless he is going to be impeached for a felony there isn't anything anyone can do about it.
I have a feeling that over the next two years we are going to see States with Republican officials ram through a lot of crazy things and hope that people either adjust or forget by the next election cycle.
Of course by then they will have removed all term limits and rigged the system so that their positions are lifetime appointments...
It matters, because every time approval waivers he's going to have to fight to overcome that. If RTW hurts him enough, he'll move to change it back or he'll try to compensate with favorable legislation or incoming campaign funding.
Beyond that, Snyder took goodwill and "capital" and flushed it down the toilet. What he might not have foreseen is that he's also going to be less valuable as a Republican in a Democratic state if Democrats will no longer support him.
I honestly don't think he cares. He knew he was signing his own political death warrant when he signed the bill.
This is a case of "Damn the torpedoes" because they know after the last cycle that the demographics are not going to be in their favor and that this is going to be their best chance. They have already started writing the laws so that they can't be appealed. they want these things in place for as long as they can have them so that it is more likely that the laws stay on the books if they do end up losing power.
You're probably right. But even then, there remains hope. The biggest, most unfortunate realization I have had in the last two years is that something being law, something being in the Constitution (State or Federal) is absolutely meaningless if the party in power wants to change it.
My guess is that Snyder played it cool to get past the mid-terms. Now that Obama is re-elected and Snyder's posse is about to get smaller, he is jamming through what he can.
He may very well be a one-term governor. After the last month, I can't imagine him getting re-elected (unless they get rid of popular state-wide voting for governor). So what they are doing is getting what they can now. Snyder will go back to the business world having made himself and his friends very happy.
I agree with Dragoon, he knew what the likely consequences were regarding his popularity/re-election chances so it shows that doesn't matter to him. Probably he'll be well taken care of by the proponents of the RTW bill (Koch Bros/ALEC and their ilk) so not getting re-elected isn't really a concern.
"Damn the torpedoes" is right considering the lame duck session has passed 282 bills. This isn't the way government is supposed to operate - it's a farce and I hope the courts can do something about it. Barring that, the only thing the people can do is vote these fascists out, and the local Democratic party needs to keep reminding the people what these repukes did.
The way I see it there are two things that could actually make this worse and neither of them we can really do much to mitigate: Prosperity and time
Rather counterintuitively prosperity will get people back to focusing on their own lives and since the recession was so severe and has gone on for so long any recovery will seem better than it actually is, it will camouflage and obscure the legal erosion of union rights, reproduction etc. and the republicans will try and take credit for it.
and as for time right now we are still focused from the last election cycle but life will go on and people will stop watching what these people are doing at least temporarily.
The 2014 elections will be bloody and the GOP will likely loose some of their influence in the state houses and maybe a couple of Governorships but by them it may well be to late.
Maybe I am wrong and reading to much into things (and I do hope so), but if this is a chess game then we need to be looking at the moves ahead and figuring out a good counter.
282 Bills in what, 6 weeks or less? Maybe it's time to cut this overly paid set of 'professionals' to part time. They have obviously proven that they can do more work in a shorter amount of time. Maybe then they can become the 'Job Creator's' they think they are.
Next 2 years, that's what they have been doing for the last 2 and will continue. That's why they won the House back due to all the gerrymandering they did across so many states. Many people thought re-electing President Obama was good but there are enough looneys running states that can still ruin this country. States like, AZ, FL, NM, IN, MI, OH, TX and more.
I would like to add Missouri to that list. While we have a Democrat Governor, he won't get much done or be able to stop these crazy laws from taking effect, as Republicans now have a super majority in the legislature and can override all of his vetoes.
Glenn, Add Pennsylvania to that list. We've got a Republican majority and Governor Corbett in PA now. He's been doing all kinds of things to privatize, etc.
Exactly, Dragoon, #1,
Even if they lose, they've won.
The media makes a big issue of the Governor, but what about the slimy weasels that hold office in the statehouse there? Getting rid of the governor will do what? The state is controlled by teapubs and lots of other states are, too. The voters have to clean house right along with the mansion. Otherwise, nothing gets accomplished for the people of the state.
But what he loses in percentage points, he gains in free speech. Or Koch Cash. Call it what you will.
Yup, just ask Scott Walker in Wisconsin cause it's working so well for him....
I sincerely hope that people do not forget this. That this slab of meat is gone during the next election cycle. No, he does not care. Karma. What goes around, comes around, three times fold.
Rick Snyder hasn't done enough damage with his union busting tactics; he also is trying to pass a concealed weapon bill in MI, allowing concealed weapons in schools and churches.
What a guy.
We have one just like him in PA, Tom Corbett, T-party darling, who is changing out lottery (which helps seniors in PA) to a private Company which, instead of seniors, will reap the benefits. Trying to do the same with state liquor stores and the lottery. Next it will be unions.
@India, I'll say it again - I'd like to feel sorry for you people, but you all are not paying close enough attention! The GOTP has been saying for years what they are willing to dismantle and yet you people keep voting them into office only to act "surprised" when they start pulling this crap! Sorry, you get what your attention deficit disorders get you, people willing to screw you over for their own short term benefit.
It's being reported in the Detroit newspapers that Snyder has told the Republicans he is vetoing their bill on allowing concealed weapons in schools. Quotes from the Detroit News :
"He's not going to sign it," Green told The Detroit News.
Green said he refused to include language in Senate Bill 59 allowing public school districts and municipalities to still ban concealed weapons for fear that it could be used to overturn the state's firearms preemption law that prohibits local firearms laws from trumping state laws and regulations.
Green said the final version of the legislation was "more restrictive than we ever wanted."
"They told us Thursday night he'd veto it if we didn't include that language," said Green, who says he refused to concede to the governor's demands. "We just said 'enough's enough' and we passed it."
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121218/POLITICS02/212180432#ixzz2FRFKSS88
Zora, #3.2
Don't look at me! I never voted the bas#@$%&'s in! I always vote straight Democratic ticket. I also belong to the DNC, and supported Obama financially.
Zora... Go back to Fox News. Democratic here too. And vote that way. Snyder is a snake in the grass.
Shocking for the veto on the bill. He will do something else to make up for it.
RE: "A lot can happen in a month."
President Obama should heed this lesson. If he agrees to break his promise not to return to the Clinton rates for all income above $250,000 (as opposed to $400,000 or $1,000,000) and/or goes to a chained-CPI for SS benefits and/or agrees to means-test Medicare...all before he is even inaugurated again...then I fear that he will enjoy the same fate as Governor Snyder, thereby damaging his ability to get other issues we care about resolved responsibly.
(For the record, I will always show-up on election day. But if President Obama wants to give the Republican Party another mid-term victory, then I can't imagine a more effective way to discourage turnout than to sign the kind of deal that he has reportedly proposed.)
It would do some damage to what he can do in his second term if he gives away too much in negotiation, but President Obama has a little room to work with, I think. I don't think social programs are included in that room to work, but the rates and income levels could be played with just a bit.
The Snyder equivalent for Obama would be to go with the GOPs preferred plan (that Romney campaigned on) -- the thing that tone deaf Republicans are suggesting is the "compromise" he should be making.
There are a couple of huge differences in these two situations. Snyder or the republicans control of the legislative bodies of Michigan, Obama does not so he has to compromise somewhere.
I will be devastated if he caves in to the T-Party mentality in Boehner's caucus.
Yes, you're right CJ! I didnt trust him when I voted for him, no choice. My logo was VOTE OBAMA....BUT STOCK UP ON KY.
So, Obama caves again? What a legacy. What a way to guarantee that teapubs win it all because the dems have no one they can trust to keep their word either.
magnolia, #4.4 LOL I just re- read that and finally got it. I kept reading it as Kentucky! Ha!
I'll have to check to see if I am out of it.
Snyder has burned his bridges with my Uncle Ted St. Antoine, labor law professor and former Dean of the University of Michigan Law School, who voted for Snyder two years ago because he thought he would be a sensible centrist whose business acumen might help with Michigan's unemployment. The ambush of labor had nothing to do with getting more jobs or giving workers more rights than they already have, said Ted, except excusing them from having to pay for benefits they get from the unions they are already exempted from having to join under current law. The move was also transparently political, said Ted, supported by the same old crowd that's against social security and the minimum, wage. And if that is the crowd the governor wants to represent then Ted wants nothing to do with him. Looks like Ted is not alone.
This is so typical. Democrats sit on their hands during the mid terms of 2010 because things hadn't "changed fast enough", and now, everybody is wringing their hands because the republicans are forcing things through...NOTE TO DEMOCRATS...GET INVOLVED!
Snyder is probably hoping that as time goes by til his re-election that the people of MI will have forgotten his flip flop on RTW and maybe see new jobs coming in and give it a chance and him. It will be up to labor and the dems to keep the electorate informed and push for him and the other repubs that supported him out of office. Sneakiness is the repubs forte and they should not be rewarded for their deceit.
We will not forget. Too many atrocities have been committed in the last month in Michigan. Goodbye Snyder, you will be gone but not forgotten.
Come on now... we all need to calm down and remember that this is the first time in a very long time that a Republican has said one thing and done another. The odds of someone being kidnapped by a Sasquatch and turned into the beast's love slave are much better than the odds of a Republican lying to you. When I think of honesty and integrity, I naturally think of Republicans.
I sure hope you are being sarcastic...
Thank you for showing me the obvious. I was just sooo upset, as I just rec'd my reminder postcard in the mail about the tiny changes in the Homestead Property Tax Credit.
Rob, #9, "When I think of honesty and integrity, I naturally think of Republicans."
Perhaps you have a strange and distorted form of dyslexia?
His price has not been paid until he has been ostracized from office.
Snyder is not the only one thats a guarantee. I expect other Republicans to do the same over the next few years, before the next election comes along. You will see a drop in Republicans being elected or reelected to office. They just lie their way in, and stick it to people.
or the repugs just run as dems - do your homework people!
You forget that the teapubs are "fixing" the voting process to make sure they get in even if the people vote for the dems. The lying, cheating and stealing is a feature of their party.
The red and blue in the chart are misleading- we have been taught Blue=Democrats, Red=Republicans- took a moment longer than needed to get what you meant- would get a quicker read if you went with a different color- say green=approval and red=disapproval. Just a thought. But with regard to content- hope it hold true- teachers deserve to be paid a living wage. It would be better to pay less to the admins than those on the front line.
People aren't going to like to hear this but, in my opinion, the unions did this to themselves. They over-reached with a proposed amendment to Michigan's state constitution, and it failed miserably. The Republicans seized on this election result to push through a series of anti-union, anti-democracy bills that are equally as unpopular. Yes, they over-reached, too. So now, the people of Michigan will have to live through at least two years of a hell they could have avoided, if only the unions had shown some restraint. Again, just my opinion.
You're getting it backwards.
Michigan unions saw the RTW bill coming. The constitutional amendment was the only way for the people to block RTW before it was passed.
Snyder campaigned against Prop 2, saying he had "no plans" to sign RTW, and making a big show of telling the legislature not to send it to him.
The MI GOP passed RTW in the lame duck because they lost seats in the upcoming legislature. They will still have a majority, but some moderate Republicans wouldn't have voted for it, so they needed outgoing GOP members to vote for it.
But wait, there's more. In their midnight haste to ram last-minute legislation through, the GOP failed to actually read the wording of their bills. See:
http://www.freep.com/article/20121217/NEWS06/121217052/Loophole-wouldn-t-let-schools-ban-guns-their-premises-Michigan?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Snyder did get the new bridge over the Detroit River approved; perhaps he thought we'd all ignore anything else he did subsequently. One good thing: the work of my favorite governor, Jennifer Granholm, is looking better and better.
I'm in Michigan. Although I didn't vote for him - I held my nose and voted for Virg, who is no bargain - I think most felt that especially during the Wisconsin troubles that he made an effort to reflect the state he is in and actually be the sort of reasonable guy that he mostly sounded like.
So what he's done is not R business as usual. As Dr Maddow points out, he's destroyed his brand. It's astonishing to most of us who, even if we didn't support him were willing to give him marks for being not-crazy in a crazy legislature.
Oh no Snyder and his Teapublicans - we won't forget this in 2014 - we won't ever forget this!
Heidi, Much of what they've done is going to be with us for a long time, even if they lose.
Why does all this make me want to listen to Leonard Cohen sing Hallelujah?
Can you spell R-E-C-A-L-L?
There is no recall in Michigan.
.
Yeah!
Now the people of Michagan needs to come together and fire this @!$%#.
Snyder and the GOP legislature of MI are bought and paid for by the Koch brothers and other plutocrats. Needless to say, they got their money's worth. It will be easier to plunder what's left of the state and it's people. The people of MI will have "buyers remorse" long after he's gone. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
I think it's time for a recall or an impeachment. Maybe this one can be made an example of and held up as a warning to Republican governors throughout America. Don't know how he pulled this off in Michigan home of the Auto industry. Probably some vote tampering.
There is no recall law in Michigan, and impeachment would have to be done by the Republican majority in the legislature. What is it with lefties they can't bloody well learn what politics is about? You people are a damn embarrassment.
There is a recall law in Michigan, where are you getting your information from? We tried to recall him in the summer of 2011, but the unions offered no help. We needed 800,000 signatures and were able to collect 500,000. Everyone who collected was a volunteer, there was no money to pay people to collect. I spent many summer days out at festivals and sidewalks collecting signatures. This was before he completely lost every one in Michigan's trust. We would have no problem getting enough signatures now, the hard part would be defeating him in the election. As Scott Walker proved you can be massively unliked and still have people vote for you because they don't like recalls. The lame duck legislature did pass new recall restrictions to try and make it harder, but I'm not sure if Snyder has signed it yet. The new bill says recalls can only happen once per term per legislator. Not sure if this would be retroactive making the previous attempt at recalling Snyder and some of the other Republicans immune from another recall attempt.
Knowing Snyder he'll just get the GOP legislature to declare the state in finanacial emergency and dissolve all elections I'm he obviously thinks he can do whatever he wants over there.
Rick Snyder is Michigan's answer to Muhammad Morsi.
The momentum for the people is growing and we can only hope it swells enough to kick out the ratbastards, Snyder and his Republican cronies, at the earliest opportunity.
Rachel, Ed, Lawrence, Chris...want to make sure you know Michigan's controversial governor Rick Snyder late Tuesday vetoed the law that would have permitted concealed weapons in schools and hospitals etc... Both houses passed it late last week, part of their flurry of controversial laws by a lame duck session. Snyder, and both houses, are GOP controlled. Correction...Koch brothers and Amway controlled...
When the unemployment has dropped in Michigan and new companies are moving there, his approval rating will go back up. The only way to get companies to Michigan is to have a right to work state. What most people do not seem to understand is that you can still have unions, and you can still be a member, but you cannot force anyone to be a member, so companies can hire and fire the normal way, instead of having to keep unproductive overpaid employees.