Yesterday, reported for the Washington Post on a cluster of recent polls from what he called "the nine crucial swing states The Fix has identified as key to the 2012 election". Here's the headline: Walker, Kasich and Scott--all first-term Republican governors--have seen their poll numbers improve after voters in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida, respectively, turned on them for administering the harsh medicine necessary to improve their states' business climates and get their fiscal houses in order. Kasich and Scott are each at 41% job approval--not stellar, but a significant rebound from where they were a year ago--and Walker, who survived a recall election earlier this month, is enjoying a 51% approval rating, according to Marquette University.
A little over a year ago, I blogged about how several newly elected GOP govs, including Walker, Kasich and Scott, were having a rough go of it with a seemingly large chunk of the voters who had just elected them. I pointed out that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had also drawn the ire of voters during his first couple years in office, but once the effects of his policies were felt, his poll numbers turned around; he was handily reelected in 2008 and is now one of the most popular governors in the country.
Blake may have buried the lead, however, as his post also lists The Fix's latest "Line" of gubernatorial races (a countdown of the five governorships most likely to change parties this year). Every race on the Line is in a state with a Democratic governor, meaning there is virtually no chance of Democrats winning the governor's mansion in a state with a Republican gov this year, but Republicans are poised to flip a handful of governorships in states where Democrats are retiring.
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