Beating Up On Teachers Isn't Helping Chris Christie: He's At Record Lows In Latest Poll

From IBTimes:

Only 30 percent of registered voters in New Jersey hold a favorable opinion of Gov. Chris Christie -- a candidate for the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination -- according to a new poll conducted by the Rutgers University. The Rutgers-Eagleton poll was conducted prior to Christie qualifying as a participant in Fox News’ first Republican primary debate to be held Thursday.

“Asked to justify their negative assessments, 18 percent cite his character, attitude, and image as reasons for their unfavorable feelings; another 10 percent use such terms as untrustworthy, deceitful, and liar,” the Rutgers Institute of Politics said, in report outlining the findings of the poll.

...


According to the report, which also compiled previous polls, between June and August, the number of New Jersey voters who said their “general impression” of Christie -- who announced his candidacy on June 30 -- was favorable fell by nearly 10 percent. Over the past year, his favorability rating has fallen by almost 20 percent.

Christie’s overall job approval rating as governor has also shown a similar decline over the past year. Between August 2014 and August 2015, the percentage of people who disapproved of his work as governor increased to 59 percent from an earlier 39 percent.

In the good old glory days, Christie used to hold town hall meetings and have fights with union members and teachers, have his staff tape those fights and then put them up on You Tube.

Those You Tube moments were part of his initial national fame and helped gin up the idea that Christie had potential as a national political figure.

But the glory days are long gone - the Bridgegate scandal, along with the misery New Jersey residents live with daily in Chris Christie's economically-challenged, infrastructurally-decrepit state have ensured their demise.

That doesn't mean Christie hasn't tried to bring back the glory days, of course - just last week he said on ABC News he'd love to punch the national teachers union in the face.

That remark engendered much outrage among teachers and their families, which is not exactly a constituency Christie is interested in.

But if he thought that remark would win him some friends among other constituencies, well, he was wrong.

Not only have his poll numbers in Jersey continued to crater, his approval on particular issues have continued to fall to new lows as well - including on education:

Christie fared no better on individual issues, reaching a new low over his work on Superstorm Sandy recovery -- with only 46 percent approving of his work, down from his April 2013 peak of 87 percent. Additionally, Christie -- who recently said that the American Federation of Teachers, a national teachers’ union, deserved a “punch in the face” -- has also fallen to new lows over his work on education and schools in the state. His approval rating on the issue has fallen more than 10 percent over the past year, with 58 percent disapproving of his work.

He's down 41 percentage points on education in the last two years and three months.

That's a pretty big fall.

In a previous Rutgers-Eagleton poll, 69% of New Jersey voters said Christie wasn't suited to be president because of his temperament.

In a Monmouth poll, 57% of New Jersey voters wanted Christie to resign.

Coming on the heels of 61,000 booing him at Monmouth Park last week, these poll numbers should give Christie a good feel for how much people despise him and the job he is doing as governor.

And if he thinks beating up on teachers is going to help him bring back some of the glory days, he is sadly mistaken.

Cuomo's Legacy? Corruption And Unpaid Bills For Big Projects

The NY Times today:

It is a commonly held belief among political leaders: Long after they have left office, they will be remembered in large part for legacy projects that outlast their political lives, if not their natural ones.

In less than five years, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, has managed to move ahead on two such projects: a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester Counties, and an overhaul of La Guardia Airport in Queens.

Political analysts say the governor’s penchant for large-scale projects is unmatched among his recent predecessors, and is reminiscent of the administration of Nelson A. Rockefeller, the Republican who was elected to four terms as governor and whose lengthy construction resume included state office buildings and college campuses.

“It’s in the sinews of Andrew Cuomo’s very way of viewing what the role of a governor is,” said Bruce N. Gyory, a political consultant who served in the administrations of three New York governors. “In that sense, we haven’t had a governor who had both the interest and the financial underpinnings to sustain a building agenda since Rockefeller.”

The interest and financial underpinnings to sustain the biggest building agenda since Rockefeller?

What "financial underpinnings"?

But Mr. Cuomo’s zeal for marquee construction projects has come with some consequences. It remains unclear how, exactly, the state will pay for the estimated $3.9 billion Tappan Zee replacement, and how high the tolls may climb for those who cross it.

The state had hoped to use a $511 million loan from a clean water fund toward the Tappan Zee project, but the federal Environmental Protection Agency rejected most of that plan.

As for the improvements at La Guardia, Mr. Cuomo has said the first phase of the ambitious plan, which involves replacing the central terminal, would cost $4 billion. In January, he proposed constructing a rail link that would connect the airport to the subway system in Queens; he was vague about where the estimated $450 million needed to build it would come from.

Likewise, Delta Air Lines has not said how much it would spend to help achieve Mr. Cuomo’s vision of a “unified” La Guardia, but the company said this week that it was committed to redeveloping Terminals C and D in conjunction with the replacement of the central terminal.

Cuomo's legacy will be grandiose press conferences about grandiose building projects with grandiose price tags that eventually get paid by taxes, tolls, fees and levies against the not-so-grandiose in this state - the working and middles classes.

That and corruption, of course.

Monmouth Poll: 57% Say Chris Christie Should Resign As Governor

From Political Wire:

A new Monmouth University Poll in New Jersey, taken after Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential announcement, found that “a large majority feels that Christie has abandoned his commitment to the state and few say he is a good fit for the Oval Office.”

Key finding: “Just 27% of New Jerseyans say Chris Christie would make a good president.  More than two-thirds (69%) say he would not.”

More findings:

Christie's job approval rating in the Monmouth poll stands at 36% approval, 58% disapproval.

Among registered voters, Christie's job approval stands at 34% approval, 60% disapproval.

When asked whether Christie cares more about governing NJ or his own political future, just 17% responded governing NJ, 76% responded his own political future.

And the clicker:

When asked if Christie should resign as governor now that he's announced a run for president, 57% say yes, 37% say no.

Governor Cuomo's Job Approval Rating In Latest Siena Poll: 42% Approve, 57% Disapprove

Capital Confidential led with Cuomo's "favorability" rating when they wrote up the story about the latest Siena poll today (it is 58%), but they should have led with his job approval rating.

Here are the job approval numbers:

How would you rate the job Andrew Cuomo is doing as Governor?

Excellent - 7%
Good - 35%
Fair - 40%
Poor - 17%
Don't Know - 1%

The way these polls get analyzed, excellent and good become the "approval" number, fair and poor become the "disapproval" number.

Take a look at those approval numbers for Cuomo just six weeks after he won re-election with 54% of the vote.

He's underwater in approval by 15%.

Cuomo released a letter from one of his hacks yesterday to NYSED Commissioner King and Regents Chancellor Tisch that has such a wide-ranging agenda, he'd need to have 80%+ approval to ram that through.

But the reality is, he's got a 42% approval rating.

This is an unpopular governor with an unpopular agenda.

He CAN be beaten when he tries to ram through his education reform agenda next year.

He's at 42% approval.