After 2 Months in Office, Gov. Rick Snyder’s Approval Rating Tanks

Newspaper editorialists and political pundits have praised Governor Rick Snyder for not attacking Michigan’s public-sector union employees, or like Wisconsin’s Governor, trying to restrict collective bargaining on the part of public-sector unions. In a February 27, 2011 piece published in the Macomb Daily, we read: “Don’t expect the battle over the collective bargaining rights of state workers to blaze a trail through Michigan.”

Snyder told the Associated Press in late-February that, “he’s had a good dialogue with labor unions since taking office and wants to work with public employee unions to seek concessions he says are needed to balance the state budget….I respect the other governors, clearly, but as a practical matter I think we’ve already made our decision that there’s a different way of doing things.”

Reporter Nathan Bomey at AnnArbor.com posted a CliffsNotes piece based on reporting from The Detroit News in December 2010 titled, “Targeting public employees’ collective bargaining rights unlikely, Snyder says.” In that piece we read, “Michigan Gov.-elect Rick Snyder, who has indicated that he believes public employee compensation cuts are necessary to stabilize Michigan’s budget, told the Detroit News in an interview that he doesn’t think it’s necessary to restrict public employees’ collective bargaining rights.”

Today, I received a robo-call poll from a company reaching out on behalf of Governor Rick Snyder. I was asked some pretty interesting questions, the first of which was:

1.  Would you support Michigan becoming a work-for-hire state?

Would I? No. Do I believe Rick Snyder chose a Lt. Governor Calley, a politico who favors making Michigan a work-for-hire state, in order to seriously explore the idea of doing so? Yes.

Guess what? Democrats and Independents who thought “Ann Arbor” businessman Rick Snyder would be a different kind of Republican are having serious buyer’s remorse.

According to a poll reported on today, and conducted by the Detroit Free Press:

“The huge popularity Snyder had in polls taken in late January sank considerably. Forty-four percent view Snyder favorably, and 27% view him unfavorably. In January, 59% viewed him favorably and 8% unfavorably. That was after Republican Snyder’s inauguration and his well-received State of the State address. Since then, he presented his budget plan Feb. 17, which features a sweeping reduction of business taxes and higher taxes for many individuals.”

The poll of 600 Michigan residents was conducted on Monday by EPIC/MRA of Lansing. Bernie Porn works for EPIC and had this to say about the results: “Voters’ assessment of Snyder appears to have shifted quickly and sharply. The shift was most pronounced among Democrats and independents, who apparently don’t share the governor’s view that his budget and tax plan represent shared sacrifice. Snyder’s favorable rating among independents fell from 40% in January to 26%.”

Would I be A2Politico if I didn’t once again say we have lots of Ann Arbor Democrats to thank for Snyder’s success? Ann Arbor’s Democratic state Senator Rebekah Warren was positively glowing when she got to lead Snyder to the podium the evening he delivered his state of the State address. She burbled to the media about how great it will be to spread the “successes” of Ann Arbor SPARK—investigative reporting to the contrary by the Detroit Free Press and the Mackinac Center be damned. Most recently, as the Republican-controlled state Senate on March 2, 2011 began an effort to overturn new health benefits for same sex partners and others living with state employees in the state Senate, Warren, who voted against the resolution, was quoted in the Lansing State Journal as reminding stunned Democrats and Independents of Snyder’s desire to “run the state more like a business.” She argued that a “majority of Fortune 500 companies in the nation have offered domestic partner health benefits to their employees.”

Who among us is silly enough to believe when the Senate and House revoke health benefits offered to same sex partners successfully, that Governor Snyder will veto the proposal? Maybe Democratic Senator Rebekah Warren? Maybe some of the Democrats and Independents in Ann Arbor who privately gave thousands to Snyder’s campaign and voted for him?

Next question from the robo-call poll:

2. Would you support a law in Michigan that ended elective abortion?

Hell, no. If Republicans in Lansing don’t want to have abortions, they shouldn’t have them. That includes Governor Snyder and Andy Dillon.

I would favor a law that ended elective naivité of the electorate. I would be 100 percent behind a law that ended elective ignorance and the general stupidity associated with funding the campaign and voting for a conservative politician who is rich and callous enough to target poor people, threaten women’s reproductive rights, and poll 100 percent voters like me about whether he would have our support in attacking collective bargaining. I would support a move to legislate that Democrats and Independents who supported Rick Snyder get a free “Kick Me, I Supported Snyder” sign to put on their backs.

To order a sign for a friend or neighbor, call state Senator Rebekah Warren’s office in Lansing.