By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett hit an all-time low this week.
Thirty-six percent of voters approve of the way the first-term governor and former Pennsylvania attorney general is doing his job, compared with 47 percent who disapprove, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.
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But these figures don’t bother Corbett — he doesn’t read polls, he said. “If I was looking at the polls, I wouldn’t be doing some of the things I’m doing, would I?” Corbett said.
The poll queried 997 registered voters from June 5-10 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Corbett's approval rating is down from an all-time high of 50 percent based on a September Quinnipiac poll, which surveyed 1,370 voters.
Corbett had “a heck of start,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, especially compared with other first-term Republican governors in Ohio and Florida. “His approval ratings were high. They have precipitously dropped in the last nine months, corresponding in time to a budget which brought cuts to education and other services,” Malloy said.
Of the Democrats polled, 68 percent disapprove of Corbett's time in office compared with 26 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of independents.
Corbett also has a better reputation with men, with 40 percent approving, compared with 32 percent of women approving. Corbett’s not the sole target of Pennsylvania’s dissatisfaction with its state government. The state Legislature has an approval rating of 27 percent, crawling toward its all-time low of 25 percent in a May 2010 Quinnipiac poll.
Only 11 percent of respondents said Pennsylvania's economy has improved since Corbett took office, but within that group, 66 percent gave him credit for the improvements.
Of the 33 percent who say the state's economy is in worse shape, 63 percent put the blame on Corbett over President Barack Obama.
Other points the poll found about where Pennsylvania voters stand on the presidential election included:
- Obama leads presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney with 46 percent to 40 percent, alongside 2 percent who say they would vote for someone else and 3 percent who say they wouldn’t vote at all.
- Forty-nine percent of voters say Mitt Romney would do a better job repairing the nation’s economy, compared with 41 percent who say the same about Obama.
- Seventy-seven percent say Obama is a likeable person, compared with 58 percent who say the same about Romney
Know who has taken more from oil and gas companies then any politician in HISTORY. Barack Obama. Also, you don't understand tax incentives, which every company gets. How do you like Apple? Have an iMac and iPhone I bet (like every liberal)? They make more money than any oil company, and keep all of it off shore. They use Chinese labor camps to make their phones. You enraged about Apple? Guess not... you haven't been told to be by your liberal handlers.
My guess is that Sestak is considering it but it'll be tough. Most, if not all, Governors in Pennsylvania's history have served two terms. Corbett will also have tons of Koch brother money and oil and gas company money, to play down his pathetic record and somehow present himself as some type of savior.. Sadly enough, recent results in Wisconsin and California ( on the cigarette tax issue) have shown that people are easily persuaded when they are overwhelmed by ads from monied interests.
Yes, I am incredibly wise to people who are not liberal wankers.
Term limits, pension reform and how about a federal Budget, would be nice. I am not Corbett's champion but he can't print money like the feds can.