How Soon They Forget
Yesterday in this space we discussed a Morning Consult poll released last month showing that Gov. Kim Reynolds’ approval ratings was 49 percent, but her disapproval rating was 47 percent—highest of all governors in the country.
More Iowans still approve of her job performance than disapprove. But one note from that poll that Reynolds is no doubt looking at is that her disapproval rating jumped from 39 percent in the first quarter of this year to 47 percent now. During that time, the legislature enacted several items she endorsed…the very platform she ran on and won election with by 20 points. How could voters like her and her plans so much in November of 2022 to give her a 20 point electoral victory…but now she’s at 47 percent disapproval?
It’s hard to imagine that folks who voted for her are now shocked at the legislative action taken on areas such as the right to life and school choice. Then again, it’s so rare that a politician actually does what they say they are going to do, perhaps some folks are surprised, or not pleased with the extent to which some of the measures went—although again, that was not a secret going in.
Some of it may be because the Democrats ran such a woeful campaign for governor last year that given the choice, some who normally lean left voted for her, perhaps due to the generally successful response at the state level to COVID.
And because of the poor choice for Democrats, many may well have stayed home from the polls a year ago, but would still show up in a survey of future likely voters today. That is another explanation for the shift.
But regardless, any politician knows that when their disapproval numbers go from 39 to 47 in only six months…it’s certainly something to watch, because that’s perilously close to being under water.
