*** Republican party of Kentucky sponsored poll is "devastating" for Fletcher! ***
A poll sponsored by the Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) has some very bad news for the Gov. Read the story here.
Here are excerpts:
A Republican Party-commissioned poll shows that more than two-thirds of respondents want someone other than Ernie Fletcher to be governor, and said that even his acquittal or dismissal of legal charges wouldn't help their views of the state's embattled chief executive.
The Washington-based pollster Jan R. van Lohuizen, who has done work for the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Fletcher, described the results in a memo as "devastating" for the Republican governor.
Of the 500 respondents from across the state, 69 percent said they wanted to give someone else a chance to be governor, while just 25 percent thought Fletcher deserved re-election.
Only 38 percent approved of Fletcher's job performance, while 56 percent disapproved.
And 44 percent blamed Fletcher primarily "for scandals in Frankfort." Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who has led the probe into the Fletcher administration's hiring practices, was blamed by 14 percent.
... The poll results ... were distributed to Republican officials in Frankfort, including Fletcher, as well as the GOP members of the congressional delegation and the Republican Party chairmen of each of the six congressional districts. Questions were asked between June 25 and 29. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Fletcher's chief of staff, Stan Cave, noted that the poll numbers showed a 10 percent increase in approval from a poll conducted last month by an independent tracking group, SurveyUSA. ( ***** UPDATE: See the latest July SurveyUSA poll results here. For a breakdown of the SurveyUSA poll, click here. The Gov.'s disapproval rating is 66%, with 30% approving. This is even worse news for the Gov. than the Republican poll shows. Among the respondents, the Gov. fared worse among women (over 70% disapproval) and in Western Ky (70% disaproval). Notice that his disapproval rating has also risen among Republicans, too! :End UPDATE *****)
"Given that the administration has been under a constant barrage for two years from a liberal press and that we've done nothing to combat that with paid media, it is remarkable that the governor has a 38 percent approval rating," Cave said in an interview before repeating a similar line about the "liberal media" 11 more times.
But perhaps the worst news for Fletcher is that shedding his legal troubles might not even help his re-election bid in 2007.
...
Cave has said publicly that he expects the charges to be dismissed, which could allow the governor to turn his political fortunes around.
But those asked by the pollsters didn't think so.
Sixty-five percent said that if Fletcher were acquitted it would "make no difference." Sixteen percent said they'd view Fletcher more favorably, while another 16 percent said they'd have a less favorable impression of him.
Even of the Republicans polled, a slightly higher percentage said an acquittal wouldn't change anything.
Virtually the same numbers also held true in the poll when people were asked about the charges being dismissed by the courts. This time, 60 percent said it wouldn't matter, while 14 percent thought it would help and 23 percent said it would hurt their view of him.
Cave said he would throw out the results from the dismissal question because it's "counter-intuitive" that so many people would have a less favorable opinion of Fletcher than they did before. "I think that is proof that those polled did not understand that question," he said. "You can't make sense out of that answer." (But see a very EFFECTIVE rebuttal here!), and read the pollster's different interpretation: "It is less about whether the governor is guilty or innocent, acquitted or not, it is more about ending the political theatre as quickly as possible," van Lohuizen wrote. "Combined with the very high percent of voters who say they would vote to give someone else a chance to do better, this is very bad news indeed," he concluded in the memo addressed to Republican Party Chairman Darrell Brock.
... Republican Senate President David Williams said the week before these poll numbers were released that Fletcher needs to weigh empirical evidence.
"He's an adult. He can read the polls. And he can make his own decisions," he said. "And if someone wants to stand forward and challenge him in a primary, that will determine whether he can win."
Are the odds indeed dwindling?
Here are excerpts:
A Republican Party-commissioned poll shows that more than two-thirds of respondents want someone other than Ernie Fletcher to be governor, and said that even his acquittal or dismissal of legal charges wouldn't help their views of the state's embattled chief executive.
The Washington-based pollster Jan R. van Lohuizen, who has done work for the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Fletcher, described the results in a memo as "devastating" for the Republican governor.
Of the 500 respondents from across the state, 69 percent said they wanted to give someone else a chance to be governor, while just 25 percent thought Fletcher deserved re-election.
Only 38 percent approved of Fletcher's job performance, while 56 percent disapproved.
And 44 percent blamed Fletcher primarily "for scandals in Frankfort." Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who has led the probe into the Fletcher administration's hiring practices, was blamed by 14 percent.
... The poll results ... were distributed to Republican officials in Frankfort, including Fletcher, as well as the GOP members of the congressional delegation and the Republican Party chairmen of each of the six congressional districts. Questions were asked between June 25 and 29. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Fletcher's chief of staff, Stan Cave, noted that the poll numbers showed a 10 percent increase in approval from a poll conducted last month by an independent tracking group, SurveyUSA. ( ***** UPDATE: See the latest July SurveyUSA poll results here. For a breakdown of the SurveyUSA poll, click here. The Gov.'s disapproval rating is 66%, with 30% approving. This is even worse news for the Gov. than the Republican poll shows. Among the respondents, the Gov. fared worse among women (over 70% disapproval) and in Western Ky (70% disaproval). Notice that his disapproval rating has also risen among Republicans, too! :End UPDATE *****)
"Given that the administration has been under a constant barrage for two years from a liberal press and that we've done nothing to combat that with paid media, it is remarkable that the governor has a 38 percent approval rating," Cave said in an interview before repeating a similar line about the "liberal media" 11 more times.
But perhaps the worst news for Fletcher is that shedding his legal troubles might not even help his re-election bid in 2007.
...
Cave has said publicly that he expects the charges to be dismissed, which could allow the governor to turn his political fortunes around.
But those asked by the pollsters didn't think so.
Sixty-five percent said that if Fletcher were acquitted it would "make no difference." Sixteen percent said they'd view Fletcher more favorably, while another 16 percent said they'd have a less favorable impression of him.
Even of the Republicans polled, a slightly higher percentage said an acquittal wouldn't change anything.
Virtually the same numbers also held true in the poll when people were asked about the charges being dismissed by the courts. This time, 60 percent said it wouldn't matter, while 14 percent thought it would help and 23 percent said it would hurt their view of him.
Cave said he would throw out the results from the dismissal question because it's "counter-intuitive" that so many people would have a less favorable opinion of Fletcher than they did before. "I think that is proof that those polled did not understand that question," he said. "You can't make sense out of that answer." (But see a very EFFECTIVE rebuttal here!), and read the pollster's different interpretation: "It is less about whether the governor is guilty or innocent, acquitted or not, it is more about ending the political theatre as quickly as possible," van Lohuizen wrote. "Combined with the very high percent of voters who say they would vote to give someone else a chance to do better, this is very bad news indeed," he concluded in the memo addressed to Republican Party Chairman Darrell Brock.
... Republican Senate President David Williams said the week before these poll numbers were released that Fletcher needs to weigh empirical evidence.
"He's an adult. He can read the polls. And he can make his own decisions," he said. "And if someone wants to stand forward and challenge him in a primary, that will determine whether he can win."
Are the odds indeed dwindling?
Labels: Kentucky politics
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 10:05 AM
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