Well SurveyUSA has released it monthly survey on
Governor Approval Ratings. Perhaps coming as a surprise to nobody, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is down. Again. His approval rating is 36% and his disapproval rating is 56%. This places Blagojevich as the least popular Democratic governor in the nation and the sixth least popular governor overall.
Cross-posted at SoapBlox/Chicago.
The survey was taken between the 16th and the 18th of September. This was right after the dustup regarding the
corruption in the teachers pension funds. Still, my guess is that the full gravity of the probe and its implications haven't impacted the poll (especially given the
peculiar media coverage).
Males dislike the governor more than females (64% disapproval to 48%), but both have higher disapproval ratings than approval. Rod has also lost his standing among minorities. Self-identifying whites have an approval/disapproval rating of (36/59), a number that has held steady over the last five months. Among blacks his ratings are 46/43 falling precipitously from last month's 67/29. Not quite as dramatic, but equally dismal, the governor's ratings among hispanics have plummeted from 57/39 in August to 36/51 in September, effectively reversing attitudes.
So where is this negativity coming from in the political landscape? Well, Republican views of the governor (28% approve, 70% disapprove) are actually better than they have been since the spring. Independent views have decreased (to 32% approve, 56% disapprove) relative to last month, but still remain above their historical extremes (29% approval, 65% disapproval in July). The erosion of the governor's support within the Democratic party itself accounts for a substantial amount of his fall.
Approval ratings for the governor among Democrats are at a dismal 48%, while disapproval ratings have soared to 44% (both historical extremes). In comparison, Michigan's Jennifer Granholm (D) is at 40% approval, 56% disapproval overall, but at 55/41 among Democrats. Missouri's Matt Blunt (R) is at 36/60 overall, but among Republicans is at 58/37.
Indeed the only demographic which looks even remotely positive for the governor is, very surprisingly, self-described liberals. His 53% approval rating and 30% disapproval ratings represent his best showing among the demographic since SurveyUSA began asking in June.
What does it all mean? One thing that I would think is that potential primary challengers have to be looking at this and re-evaluating their decisions. Rod's across-the-board vulnerability means not only that a Republican challenger has a reasonable chance in the general, but a Democratic challenger has a reasonable chance in the primary. Especially considering Rod's horrible downstate numbers, I am hoping that Dan Hynes reconsiders. (Hell, I'm hoping everybody reconsiders.)
My only thoughts on the wait are that Democratic challengers are waiting on Jim Edgar's decision. If Edgar gets into the race I think that there is a greater probability that primary opponents demure. They can hide behind party loyalty while at the same time avoid a direct confrontation against Edgar (the Illinois Republican golden child). If Edgar passes, then I think that we will see Democratic challengers for governor lining up.
And that's a good thing.