Everybody hates Bobby

At least in Louisiana, they do.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has been making a steady stream of appearances outside Louisiana as he tests the waters for a presidential run, but a new poll shows the governor’s approval rating back home at what’s described as an “all-time low.”

The poll, released Tuesday by the Baton Rouge-based Southern Media and Opinion Research,  found 31.8 percent of respondents viewed Jindal’s job performance favorably, while Jindal’s negative job rating hit 64.7 percent.

One supposes that is bound to happen if you run a poll while the legislature is busy trying to paper together the unholy wreck the governor has made of the budget. That goes double when  the governor happens to be off running for President and bragging to out of state voters about the fine job he's done in the process.

Jindal boasts about his no-tax stance to Republican audiences throughout the country. “I’ve been very honest and clear with voters,” Jindal said in the interview. “I would not raise taxes. We need to shrink the size of government. We’ve done that.” That is true. Louisiana has 33,000 fewer state workers than when he took office, in large part because he got the legislature to privatize the public hospitals.

That might rub people the wrong way.  So might the governor's byline in one national publication after another alongside tough talk about the continuing need to "reduce the size of government" while essential health and education services sit on the chopping block.

For next year's budget, a dramatic drop in oil prices has meant less money for state government. That's OK. It should come as no surprise to anyone that we plan to address this challenge by continuing to cut the size of government without raising taxes.

I refuse to place the burden of lower-than-expected state revenue on the backs of individuals and businesses in the form of higher taxes. State government will have to get smaller and more efficient, just as we have forced it to do in the past.

For respondents to this SMOR poll, though, government has already gotten small enough. And they say so in fairly certain terms.

Voters were posed with an “if this legislative sess ion ends without additional revenue” scenario and the resulting consequences of hospitals and state universities partially shutting down, state employee layoffs and a severe downgrading of the state’s credit rating.

An overwhelming majority (78.3%) respon ded they would feel bad about it; only 3.4% felt such an outcome would be good.

About two thirds (63.8%) of voters think that scenario would have either a lot or some impact on them and their family. Such sentiment was much higher among females (71.1%) tha n among males (54.2%).

 A strong majority (76.3%) think the legislature would have acted irresponsibly if the session ended without additional revenue and the doomsday scenario consequences occurred. A comparable majority (74.1%) think the governor would have acted irresponsibly to allow that to occur.

74 % of Louisianans who have had to live with Jindal as governor for 8 years say his campaign rhetoric sounds pretty irresponsible to them.  Of course, voters in Iowa haven't been exposed to the consequences of Jindal's BS so they may still find all this very exciting.  It's quite possible. The sooner Bobby can get the hell out of Louisiana, the better. Everybody hates him here.

The SMOR poll also asked about who voters might like to see replace the outgoing governor.  Turns out they don't really like anyone much.

U. S. Senator David Vitter reaches a new high with 38.1% of Louisiana voters picking him as their choice for governor. Vitter’s closest challenger trails by about thirteen points. The only dem ocrat in the race for governor, John Bel Edwards, received 24.6%. Republican Jay Dardenne finishes third with 16.5% and Republican Scott Angelle receives 5.4%. The remaining 15.5% are undecided or wouldn’t say

"A new high" for Vitty at 38%!  The poll also tells us that voters (especially white voters) overwhelmingly favor any Republican over any Democrat in more or less the same percentages they favored Bill Cassidy over Mary Landrieu for Senate last year.  And since David Vitter is very likely going to face John Bel Edwards in a runoff, all indications are he's going to be the next governor. Which makes sense, of course, seeing as how everybody hates him already.