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COVID IS KILLING OFF TRUMP'S BASE!!! DEAD TRUMPERS ARE GOOD TRUMPERS!!
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Ubiquitous
Jan 11, 2022, 4:42:17 PM1/11/22
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As useless asshole Trump dithered his way through the first months of the
pandemic, it became clear that when it came to people’s daily lives,
governors would be the ones with the power. In part, this was because
Trump’s leadership was so confusing and chaotic that governors had no
alternative but to step into the breach. But it was also because
governors, not presidents, have authority over important parts of pandemic
control—from quarantines, to mask rules, to vaccine distribution plans.
Covid has not been much kinder to the 50 state governors than it has been
to presidents. Trump’s Covid leadership was a major cause of his election
loss and the continuation of the pandemic is a big part of President
Biden’s recent decline in the polls.
EKamarck
So how are the nation’s governors doing during the pandemic and what might
we learn from them?
The
Covid States Project is a consortium of academics and pollsters who have
been tracking the approval ratings of America’s governors throughout the
pandemic. As the
Appendix to this article shows, the pandemic has taken its toll on almost
everyone. Between late April 2020 when the pandemic was in full swing and
September of this year, approval ratings among governors have dropped from
an average of 64% to an average of 45%. But in some states, the drop has
been well above the national average. As Table #1 indicates, with two
exceptions, the top 10 governors who have suffered the largest losses are
Republican. Most of these governors have opposed masking, schools being
shut down, quarantines, vaccine mandates, and tolerated anti-vaxxers. The
real-world results have been horrific. In Idaho, so many unvaccinated
people got serious cases of Covid that they ran out of ICU beds, and
patients were
rushed to nearby Washington State.
Table #1: 10 states where governors have suffered the largest losses in
approval ratings during the pandemic.[1]
April
2020
September 2021 Total Change
ID (R)
64 30 -34
OH (R)
81 49 -32
TN (R)
62 31 -31
TX (R)
61 32 -29
AR (R)
65 37 -28
AZ (R)
56 28 -28
KY (D)
79 51 -28
MS (R)
56 28 -28
AK (R)
61 34 -27
KS (D)
68 41 -27
Note: States identified in red with an ‘R’ in parentheses have Republican
governors; states in blue with a ‘D’ in parentheses have Democratic
governors.
Meanwhile, among the 10 states where governors have lost the least, seven
governors are Democrats and only 3 are Republicans.
Table #2: 10 states where governors have suffered the smallest losses in
approval ratings during the pandemic.
April
2020
September 2021 Total Change
HI (D)
36 38 +2
SD (R)
43 41 -2
VT (R)
72 69 -3
CT (D)
66 62 -4
NJ (D)
65 60 -5
FL (R)
46 36 -10
VA (D)
59 49 -10
CO (D)
64 53 -11
IL (D)
63 52 -11
MI (D)
62 51 -11
Overall, Republican governors have lost an average of 21.96 points while
Democratic governors have lost an average of 14.38 points. Montana, New
York, Rhode Island, and Utah are excluded from these numbers because they
changed governors during this period.
Whether these approval numbers will translate to electoral losses remains
to be seen. The two premier contests next month are the governor’s races
in New Jersey and Virginia. Historically, these two races are always
heavily scrutinized for what they can tell us about how the public is
reacting to events of the day. What we know so far is that in the two
gubernatorial races coming up next month it is clear that “it’s the
pandemic stupid.” In New Jersey, the incumbent governor, Phil Murphy, is
running for re-election. He appears to be comfortably ahead of his
Republican opponent and his approval ratings during the pandemic have
dropped only 5 points. He still has, as of September, a 60% approval
rating as the Appendix shows.
In Virginia, however, the race is much closer. Approval ratings of the
incumbent Democratic Governor, Ralph Northam, have dropped 10 points to
49%, which is still better than the average drop of 14.38% for Democratic
governors. But since Northam can’t run again, the Democratic candidate,
former Governor Terry McAuliffe, is in a tight race with wealthy
businessman and Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin. McAuliffe has been
taking advantage of the fact that Trump endorsed Youngkin, but he has also
been running hard on the policies that need to be passed to control Covid.
Not too long ago, he announced a policy initiative entitled
“Virginia is for Vaccine Lovers” and has spent time on social media and in
campaign ads seeking to tie Youngkin to the Covid strategies that are
popular amongst so many Republican governors. For his part, Youngkin is
trying to change the subject to education, especially hot-button issues
like critical race theory.
Related Content
Empty chairs fill a waiting area for people after they receive their
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines at a mobile pop-up vaccination
clinic hosted by the Detroit Health Department with the Detroit Public
Schools Community District at Renaissance High School in Detroit,
Michigan, U.S., July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin
FixGov
COVID-19 is crushing red states. Why isn’t Trump turning his rallies into
mass vaccination sites?
Elaine Kamarck
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Benjamin Rascon Gracia, left, and Jane Ramirez look at old district maps
in the lobby outside the House Chambers after a legislative redistricting
hearing Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 at the Indiana Statehouse in
Indianapolis.Legislative Redistricting Hearing Open To Public
FixGov
Redistricting 2021: Red states, blue voters
Elaine Kamarck
Thursday, September 30, 2021
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the opening of the MTA?s public
vaccination program where rail customers who receive vaccinations also
receive free rail passes at Grand Central Station Terminal train station
in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo
Allegri
FixGov
COVID-19 vaccines: The endgame
William A. Galston and Elaine Kamarck
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The elections this fall and next will tell us a great deal about Covid’s
impact on politics. At first blush, the behavior of so many Republican
governors seems self-destructive. Putting aside for the moment the fact
that they are largely killing their own voters, Republican governors are
suffering hits to their approval ratings, something no politician wants to
see.
However, the far-right has taken hold of the Republican Party and turned
everything from masks to vaccines into an assault on liberty. In most
deep-red states, Republican governors don’t have to worry about a Democrat
winning—they need to be worried about losing a Republican primary to an
anti-vaxxer. Many pundits assume that the two high profile Republican
governors, Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas, have set
their sights on the presidency and hope to inherit the Trump mantle in the
Republican presidential primaries if he doesn’t run. This would explain
their hardline positions on Covid. But both men say they are running for
re-election in 2022 and both are in very bad shape for incumbent
politicians. DeSantis’ approval rating is down to 36% and Abbott’s is even
lower, at 32%. Losing a re-election race or deciding not to run because
you are likely to lose are not good ways to catapult yourself to your
party’s nomination.
Red-state governors are in trouble with majorities because they are
pandering to a subset of voters in their party who have decided to equate
what most voters see as public health common sense with an attack on
liberty. If this keeps up, they may pay the political price.
pandemic, it became clear that when it came to people’s daily lives,
governors would be the ones with the power. In part, this was because
Trump’s leadership was so confusing and chaotic that governors had no
alternative but to step into the breach. But it was also because
governors, not presidents, have authority over important parts of pandemic
control—from quarantines, to mask rules, to vaccine distribution plans.
Covid has not been much kinder to the 50 state governors than it has been
to presidents. Trump’s Covid leadership was a major cause of his election
loss and the continuation of the pandemic is a big part of President
Biden’s recent decline in the polls.
EKamarck
So how are the nation’s governors doing during the pandemic and what might
we learn from them?
The
Covid States Project is a consortium of academics and pollsters who have
been tracking the approval ratings of America’s governors throughout the
pandemic. As the
Appendix to this article shows, the pandemic has taken its toll on almost
everyone. Between late April 2020 when the pandemic was in full swing and
September of this year, approval ratings among governors have dropped from
an average of 64% to an average of 45%. But in some states, the drop has
been well above the national average. As Table #1 indicates, with two
exceptions, the top 10 governors who have suffered the largest losses are
Republican. Most of these governors have opposed masking, schools being
shut down, quarantines, vaccine mandates, and tolerated anti-vaxxers. The
real-world results have been horrific. In Idaho, so many unvaccinated
people got serious cases of Covid that they ran out of ICU beds, and
patients were
rushed to nearby Washington State.
Table #1: 10 states where governors have suffered the largest losses in
approval ratings during the pandemic.[1]
April
2020
September 2021 Total Change
ID (R)
64 30 -34
OH (R)
81 49 -32
TN (R)
62 31 -31
TX (R)
61 32 -29
AR (R)
65 37 -28
AZ (R)
56 28 -28
KY (D)
79 51 -28
MS (R)
56 28 -28
AK (R)
61 34 -27
KS (D)
68 41 -27
Note: States identified in red with an ‘R’ in parentheses have Republican
governors; states in blue with a ‘D’ in parentheses have Democratic
governors.
Meanwhile, among the 10 states where governors have lost the least, seven
governors are Democrats and only 3 are Republicans.
Table #2: 10 states where governors have suffered the smallest losses in
approval ratings during the pandemic.
April
2020
September 2021 Total Change
HI (D)
36 38 +2
SD (R)
43 41 -2
VT (R)
72 69 -3
CT (D)
66 62 -4
NJ (D)
65 60 -5
FL (R)
46 36 -10
VA (D)
59 49 -10
CO (D)
64 53 -11
IL (D)
63 52 -11
MI (D)
62 51 -11
Overall, Republican governors have lost an average of 21.96 points while
Democratic governors have lost an average of 14.38 points. Montana, New
York, Rhode Island, and Utah are excluded from these numbers because they
changed governors during this period.
Whether these approval numbers will translate to electoral losses remains
to be seen. The two premier contests next month are the governor’s races
in New Jersey and Virginia. Historically, these two races are always
heavily scrutinized for what they can tell us about how the public is
reacting to events of the day. What we know so far is that in the two
gubernatorial races coming up next month it is clear that “it’s the
pandemic stupid.” In New Jersey, the incumbent governor, Phil Murphy, is
running for re-election. He appears to be comfortably ahead of his
Republican opponent and his approval ratings during the pandemic have
dropped only 5 points. He still has, as of September, a 60% approval
rating as the Appendix shows.
In Virginia, however, the race is much closer. Approval ratings of the
incumbent Democratic Governor, Ralph Northam, have dropped 10 points to
49%, which is still better than the average drop of 14.38% for Democratic
governors. But since Northam can’t run again, the Democratic candidate,
former Governor Terry McAuliffe, is in a tight race with wealthy
businessman and Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin. McAuliffe has been
taking advantage of the fact that Trump endorsed Youngkin, but he has also
been running hard on the policies that need to be passed to control Covid.
Not too long ago, he announced a policy initiative entitled
“Virginia is for Vaccine Lovers” and has spent time on social media and in
campaign ads seeking to tie Youngkin to the Covid strategies that are
popular amongst so many Republican governors. For his part, Youngkin is
trying to change the subject to education, especially hot-button issues
like critical race theory.
Related Content
Empty chairs fill a waiting area for people after they receive their
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines at a mobile pop-up vaccination
clinic hosted by the Detroit Health Department with the Detroit Public
Schools Community District at Renaissance High School in Detroit,
Michigan, U.S., July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin
FixGov
COVID-19 is crushing red states. Why isn’t Trump turning his rallies into
mass vaccination sites?
Elaine Kamarck
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Benjamin Rascon Gracia, left, and Jane Ramirez look at old district maps
in the lobby outside the House Chambers after a legislative redistricting
hearing Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 at the Indiana Statehouse in
Indianapolis.Legislative Redistricting Hearing Open To Public
FixGov
Redistricting 2021: Red states, blue voters
Elaine Kamarck
Thursday, September 30, 2021
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the opening of the MTA?s public
vaccination program where rail customers who receive vaccinations also
receive free rail passes at Grand Central Station Terminal train station
in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo
Allegri
FixGov
COVID-19 vaccines: The endgame
William A. Galston and Elaine Kamarck
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The elections this fall and next will tell us a great deal about Covid’s
impact on politics. At first blush, the behavior of so many Republican
governors seems self-destructive. Putting aside for the moment the fact
that they are largely killing their own voters, Republican governors are
suffering hits to their approval ratings, something no politician wants to
see.
However, the far-right has taken hold of the Republican Party and turned
everything from masks to vaccines into an assault on liberty. In most
deep-red states, Republican governors don’t have to worry about a Democrat
winning—they need to be worried about losing a Republican primary to an
anti-vaxxer. Many pundits assume that the two high profile Republican
governors, Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas, have set
their sights on the presidency and hope to inherit the Trump mantle in the
Republican presidential primaries if he doesn’t run. This would explain
their hardline positions on Covid. But both men say they are running for
re-election in 2022 and both are in very bad shape for incumbent
politicians. DeSantis’ approval rating is down to 36% and Abbott’s is even
lower, at 32%. Losing a re-election race or deciding not to run because
you are likely to lose are not good ways to catapult yourself to your
party’s nomination.
Red-state governors are in trouble with majorities because they are
pandering to a subset of voters in their party who have decided to equate
what most voters see as public health common sense with an attack on
liberty. If this keeps up, they may pay the political price.
Ubiquitous
Jan 17, 2022, 4:50:14 PM1/17/22
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Ubiquitous
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