New poll numbers are out or PA. Governor Tom Corbett and they are horrible (for him).
Pennsylvania is a cranky state and we are really hard on our Governors. The first two years are just a horror and then we tend to soften and get used to them during the second two years. Since we started allowing our Governors to run for re-election in the 1970's every Governor has been re-elected. We put them through tough re-election races but the always win. After that test we continue to support them for another two years and the we turn on them faster than Sean Hannity has turned on reason.
An interesting side note - no Lt. Governor has ever succeeded the Governor into office. The Commonwealth has flipped parties for the Governor every 8 years.
In this poll only 38% of Republicans think the Governor deserves re-election which is stunning. But, most PA Republicans are not tea baggers, but some are so the very moderate Corbett has had to play to that wing of the party and no one really trusts him because we all know that is not him.
Many of us believe that when Corbett was Attorney General he refused to prosecute Jerry Sandusky because he thought it would hurt his chances for election to the Governorship because it would have pissed off Penn State fans. The when the shit hit the fan he jumps in and tries to control the situation and forces the firing of Joe Paterno. The Governor is an automatic trustee of Penn State and he attended his first meeting during the crisis and in fact he is the first Governor to attend a trustee meeting ever. He attended the meeting because he wanted to prove he was in control. His poll numbers were already bad but L'Affair Nittany Lion showed Corbett as a craven opportunist.
I had lunch with the Governor a few months ago........................................
Actually I attended Chamber of Commerce day at the capitol a few months ago and he was the luncheon speaker.
I think I was the only Democrat in the room and all the folks I was eating with dared me to ask a really tough question with a liberal bias during question and answer time. Then we found out all questions needed to be submitted in advance and the host would pick which questions to ask.
It is tradition when a Governor enters a room to speak everyone stands up and applauds. And, because I am who I am I was one of the first people standing up.
He is the Governor and he deserves the respect.
Then, came his speech.
He whined, bitched and complained about everything and took no responsibility for anything. His failures were blamed on Barack Obama, the teachers, Ed Rendell, the teachers, the legislature, the teachers, me, the state store system, the courts, the teachers...
Everyone and everything was to blame for his failed administration but him. I looked around at my Republican friends and they were in pain about how bad this speech was. Here was a Republican Governor talking to an audience of Chamber of Commerce members, the perfect audience and half way through his whine they were tuned out and turned off.
The Governor answered a few questions, selected by the head of the PA Chamber, and I can assure you they were tough and provocative questions. "Why do you think the teachers hate our children so much?" "What can we do about ending all taxation for anyone who works hard for a living?" OK those were not real questions but they were close. The Governor's answers were as uninspiring as his speech.
Mercifully it ended, When the Governor is done speaking and he leaves the room it is tradition to stand and applause. I started to stand up (because I am that guy) and NO ONE else did. His speech was so bad and his answers to the soft ball questions were so weak that a crowd of Chamber members could not even see fit to honor him with standing applause.
This should have been his crowd.
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