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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

MI-Gov: Granholm Cruising

Posted by DavidNYC

A new poll from Michigan-based EPIC/MRA on the gubernatorial race there between Dem incumbent Jennifer Granholm and Republican businessman Dick DeVos ("active" voters, Oct. in parens):

Granholm: 58 (53)
DeVos: 35 (30)
Undecided: 7 (17)
(MoE: ±4%)

The usual caveat applies to these early polls: Granholm's challenger is largely unknown. DeVos hasn't been able to gain any traction - his d/ks are in the low 60s and have remained unchanged since early July. That will probably eventually change, and the race will tighten. Fortunately for Granholm, she remains popular - 64-29 favorability rating and good job approval numbers as well. (The poll breaks those down into five categories, so they can't be neatly summarized, but they decidedly tilt in Granholm's favor.)

One thing which mystifies me is this "right direction/wrong track" stuff. What I mean to say is that I never know what to make of it, in any poll. Is it an important question? Does it signify anything? I'm at a loss, especially because of the numbers here. Only 23% of respondents said they felt the state was on the "right direction" while 61% said "wrong track." How come, then, majorities support the incumbent governor as to all the other questions? Any thoughts?

Posted at 12:14 PM in 2006 Elections - State, Michigan | Technorati

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Comments

David,
The Right track/wrong track numbers in Michigan reflect the sluggish economy and loss of manufacturing jobs. People in Michigan don't blame Granholm for this--especially not the people losing jobs because of GM etc. They are more likely to blame the 1)heavily Republican state legislature and 2)Bush (or his pro-business party). Although, I just heard Matt Dowd (who's working for DeVos here) on the roundtable political talk show Off the Record (a Lansing version of "meet the press") outlining the DeVos strategy to tie Granholm to the wrong track numbers. DeVos is a multi-billionare business man and is going to attempt to anchor Granholm with job losses while he is a "job creator." The comeback to this ironically is, that Devos' Amway conglomerate has done some major outsourcing....humm who's to blame for job losses?? Granholm and Stabenow are safe.

Posted by: OH-09Dem at November 30, 2005 12:46 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Survey USA just released a list of approval ratings for all 50 Governors and Granholm was near the bottom at 40% approval. Somebody's numbers are off here. Thus far, it's looking good for Granholm's re-election prospects because of a lack of strong opposition (who in their right mind would want to govern a state on track for tens of thousands of more job losses in the next four years?). I still recommend the Dems keep a close eye on this race, because the conflicting data on Granholm and Michigan's horrific jobs numbers could pose a problem in the next 11 months.

Posted by: Mark at November 30, 2005 01:33 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Quite obviously Michigan voters realize the Bush Administration's failed trade policies are responsible for their job losses. China's warped currency values; years of dumped Chinese steel; open arm welcoming of goods made by Chinese slave labor (and prisoners too) at no wage cost; destroying the Iraqi oil for food program and doubling gasoline prices. They know why people aren't buying the big SUVs they made in the 90s. Stabenow could do well in her re-elect by attacking China's anti-competitive policies to high Bush's failures and the Democratic vision for rebuiling America's industrial might.

Posted by: Michael at December 1, 2005 09:30 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment