Looks like Gov. John Kasich’s union-busting bill is about to go down in flames with just two weeks to go until the election.
The campaign to save Senate Bill 5 is taking on water, with a new poll showing voters favor a repeal of the collective bargaining crackdown on Ohio’s public workers by a 57-to-32 percent margin.
The findings in the Quinnipiac University poll also show Gov. John Kasich’s popularity is in the same neighborhood as the S.B. 5 measure he has been campaigning to save. The survey of 1,668 registered voters found them disapproving of the governor’s job performance by 52-36 percent, up from a 49-40 percent negative rating in late September.
Oops. With the measure at -25% and falling (along with Kasich’s approval ratings) it’s hard to imagine the bill passing at this point. Such a massive rebuke to Kasich would basically be the end of his relevance as Governor (I hope.)
Oh, but look who picked the same day to jump on the pro-SB5 bandwagon?
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign Communications Director Ray Sullivan sends along the following statement on former Mass Gov. Mitt Romney’s failure to endorse conservative efforts to keep SB 5, Ohio’s new anti-union law.
“Mitt Romney’s finger-in-the-wind politics continued today when he refused to support right-to-work reforms signed by Ohio Governor John Kasich – reforms Romney supported in June. Americans are tired of politicians who change their beliefs to match public opinion polls. Mitt Romney has a long record of doing this on issues like government-mandated health care and the Obama stimulus. Mitt Romney needs to realize that when you try to stand on both sides of an issue, you stand for nothing.”
Hey Rick? The measure you support is about to get trashed by the people of Ohio. What does that say about Perry’s judgement, to back a measure so universally reviled by “WE THE PEOPLE”? You might want to worry more about Texas than the Buckeye State, dig?
In fact, national Republicans are piling on Romney for not supporting a ballot measure that is most likely going to lose by 20 points or more.
But that’s today’s Republican Party for you. In touch with the heartland!
Chat Noir
I enjoy Kay’s updates on what’s happening in Ohio. Glad to see the electoral winds blowing in the direction of repeal of this horrible piece of legislation. I know she’s been working very hard on this. Go Kay!
And BTW, I hate the term “right-to-work” since it’s anything but.
Napoleon
If Perry is the nominee that endorcement of SB5 could very well be the thing that cost him the general election.
As to Mitt he endorced it in June but refused to yesterday.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66828.html
Mino
D you think that the anti-S5 has coattails? Is Ohio likely to go Dem in their state offices next cycle?
AliceBlue
When SB5 finally crashes and burns, we know what the wingnut reaction will be, don’t we?
BUT, BUT BUT.. VOTER FRAUD!
Norwonk
I’m not sure this hurts Perry that much. Voters tend to respect politicians who have the courage of their opinions, even when they disagree with those opinions. That’s why “flip-flopper” is such a useful form of attack. I don’t think anyone will admire Romney for not having the guts to admit that he supports this bill.
mistermix
If Mitt came out against infanticide, Rick would endorse it.
nevsky42
Clearly, the plan in Ohio will be a way to figure out how to disenfranchise 26 percent of the voting population…
cleek
please please please please please let the GOP stand on the wrong side of Ohio opinion.
and if they could alienate FL and PA, too, that’d be awesome!
iriedc
We have our pom-poms ready in DC to cheer “We are Ohio” next week!
JPL
Fox News will probably go 24/7 in support of Kasich’s union busting bill and the Koch brothers will dump tons of money for ad buys. Hopefully, Ohioans turn off their TV because I can’t believe the repubs are going down easy.
kay
@Napoleon:
It’s worse for Romney. Now he has to talk about it in Michigan, where he lies/dodges constantly about his position on unions to union members, many of whom vote for Republicans. Or did.
I’m happy to have this debate. I think it’s great the conservatives finally admitted they’re squarely on the other side, in both the public sector and the private sector.
lonesomerobot
Well, as John said yesterday, Rick Perry is a member of the crazy party. He has to back the anti-union bill and he has to show the other crazies that even in the face of a -25% polling deficit he’s only too happy to support the issue and also get in a jab at Romney for, once again, being a waffler. So in terms of the GOP race Perry’s got it right and Romney’s got it wrong.
Romney continually makes the mistake of actually considering that he might have to run in an election where people besides the whackjobs will be voting. It will probably lead to his demise in this GOP race, and it makes you wonder why he hasn’t also just gone the full whackjob himself (he has made stabs at it but can’t seem to commit), because certainly this is Romney’s last chance to make a run at being the Republican nominee.
Napoleon
I am tempted to send Perry a donation. The longer he brings the crazy to the primary the more stupid positions Mitt will take that will cost him in the general election.
kay
@Chat Noir:
It’s good for us. Conservatives and their media liars want to talk about THE BUDGET. This is ABOUT the BUDGET. Not unions. That was always a blatant, transparent lie.
They don’t want to talk about collective bargaining rights. They want to bury the assault on unions in a ton of nit-picky bullshit about 10% or 15% towards health insurance and such, but it was never about that.
The Republic of Stupidity
There… a little more inclusive now… no?
And therein lies a real problem for Mitt and GOPers in general… it’s a real bitch getting all the merde outta those little holes on the toes of yer wing tips… innit?
Calming Influence
“Americans are tired of politicians who change their beliefs to match
publiccorporate opinion polls.”Fixed.
lacp
@cleek: Hey, Scott’s giving it his best shot in FL; Corbett’s been a bit more circumspect here in PA, but a few more videos of people’s kitchen faucets turning into flamethrowers might nudge a few folks away from the Republicans.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
on the topic of Ohio Issue 2, I saw my first “YES on Issues 2 and 3” yard sign (small) yesterday. That is added to the single (very misleading) small billboard I first saw a couple of weeks ago. Yet I see “NO on Issue2” in areas pretty much wherever I drive, including many handcrafted signs in a very red, mostly rural county – the county from which the sponsor of SB5 hails, in fact. That’s how unpopular it is in red SW Ohio.
Calming Influence
Kthug grows fangs!
artem1s
@Mino:
It’s hard to say. I couldn’t believe it when every state wide position went GOP last cycle. The media here are firmly in Koch and Murdoch’s camp. They have a pretty good track record of hiding any ulterior motives that the corporate personhood is pushing any cycle. I’m not hopeful that votes against Issue 2 will hold for another 2 years against local wingnut house and senate members. We need to turn the state legislature as much as we need to turn the governors office. It’s going to be a lot harder to get the police and firefighters on that band wagon.
but one can hope that now that the police and FF have some experience working with the DFH and evil teachers they might hang for awhile. Seen weirder stuff in the last 2 years that’s for sure.
Joseph Nobles
Jon Huntsman stands with John Kasich unlike Mitt Romney.
JPL
@Joseph Nobles: The only reason Huntsman appears sane to moderates is because the rest of the crowd is loony.
Redshift
@lonesomerobot:
If you remember, his problem is that he seems even less sincere when he tries to do that than his usual plastic self. The crazies seem to have evolved beyond accepting candidates who will mouth the right words now that they can choose ones who are real crazies.
I disagree about his chances at the nomination — remember John McCain. He’s still got the money and the organization, and that counts for a lot in a nomination fight even if nobody much likes him.
Spaghetti Lee
This is great news to start my morning. Hope 2 goes down good and hard.
JCT
@Joseph Nobles: Awesome, I like the imagery of the Republican candidates clutching that scumbag Kasich as their ship sinks.
The best part has been the screaming at Romney from the right over this last weak-kneed waffle. You can just start to catch the desperation “C’mon, Mitt give us something here so we can support you, just a rope, anything. NO, put down the boat anchor you schmuck!”
It’s hilarious — Ewick was wetting himself over this at RedState.
jayjaybear
@lacp: Heh…now that they’re running those “Environmental laws kill jobs” ads in PA, I find myself screaming at the car radio every morning, “I THINK THEY PROBABLY WANT TO NOT BE ABLE TO IGNITE THEIR KITCHEN SINK MORE!”
feebog
SB 5 is merely the first step. A sucessful recall of Scott Walker in Wisconson will be an even bigger step. Think of the timing, right in the middle of a hard fought primary season a Republican darling will be shot down, a complete repudiation of his Union busting tactics.
IMHO 2010 was an anomoly in terms of state elections. First, it there was no Presidential race to head the ticket. Second, a lot of Dems stayed home, which happens every off year, but more so in 2010. Third, Republicans ginned up thier base with the Tea Party crap.
atlliberal
Keep in mind, that Perry is only going after the real Americans vote. That is the 26% who vote Republican no matter what.
Legalize
@JPL:
I don’t know. Maybe they will. But I haven’t seen any big push from them. On the other hand I see huge billboards on I75 and I71 in and around the big cities in Ohio. I get a call a week from pro-repeal organizations. I’ve gotten 1 total from organizations opposed to repeal. I’ve gotten 10 mailers for repeal, and 1 opposed to repeal. I’ve seen 10 commercials for repeal and 1 or 2 opposed to repeal.
I think that everyone knows this thing, and the political career of Fox News Employee Kasich are deader than fried chicken. Mittens showed up at a pro SB5 call center yesterday. The place is set up specifically to call voters in support of SB5, and Mittens flipped and flopped all over the place.
The support effort at this point is cosmetic. It’s barely visible, and set up only to placate the lunatic base.
rikryah
Willard…Willard…Willard..
that you have no beliefs is a given.
glad to see you still in rare form.
les
No, no, Mitt’s got a plan. He’ll waffle, flip and flop; but he’ll get the nomination because by then he’ll be the only repub candidate not frothing at the mouth and attending debates in a strait jacket. Then, he attacks Obama in the general from the left, captures the all important firebagger vote, and with the reliable 26% who pull R regardless (and who are a bigger presence in the 50% who bother to vote) soars to victory.
Tom
Romney embraced the law today. According to a post at Huffpo, Romney is 110% behind Kasich and SB5. That was fast.
Romney 2012–All Things to All People.
AA+ Bonds
@Tom:
Good luck winning the Electoral College without Ohio, a hyuk hyuk hyuk
Catsy
@Tom: Yup. If I thought Multiple Choice Mitt had any principles at all, I’d almost swear he was ratfucking for the Dems. He visits the phone bank where they’re fighting for this bill and refuses to endorse it, which baits his opponents publicly wedding themselves to it in order to publicize Romney’s duplicity, and then reverses himself again by publicly supporting it, thus doing the maximum amount of damage to everyone–including himself.
We couldn’t have done it better if we’d scripted it.
Tom
@AA+ Bonds: I’m in Wisconsin. I can’t wait to hear the several positions Romney has for my state’s issues. Hopefully, in the end, he gives Scot Walker a big fat kiss.
Romney 2012–I feel passionately about your concerns, today.
kay
@Tom:
It’s hysterical:
Kasich must be dying. The LAST thing he wants this sneaky piece of shit called is “the collective bargaining question”.
They’ve spent tens of millions of dollars denying it’s about collective bargaining.
The local news just reported this and they’re (now) calling it “the union law”.
Thanks, Mitt!
gf120581
The events of the last couple weeks show why I don’t fear Romney like some people seem to do. He has a talent for shooting himself in the foot as adept as the other GOP hopefulls do. I mean, the “let foreclosures run their course” line is already being used in ads against him and will probably dog him until November if he’s the GOP nominee.
And this whole Ohio flap is his flip-flopping taken to a level beyond parody. It not only makes him look craven beyond words, but it manages to alienate both the GOP base AND Ohio voters who for the most part hate this law and look to repeal it by a wide margin.
I don’t know, does Mitt suffer from short-term memory loss or something? Does he simply not remember what positions he takes day to day?
gene108
@lacp:
I live in NJ, outside of Philadelphia. What I get regarding PA news is that Corbett hasn’t embraced the full on craziness of FL, OH, WI and other states Republican governors are loathed.
He cut education, rolled back some taxes and stuff that is expected from Republicans.
I think Corbett looks to be in good standing in PA. He’s even proposed an impact fee for companies, who drill for natural gas in the state.
Though some feel it is (surprise) too industry friendly.
It is a tax, proposed by a Republican on “job creators”, which is a very radical position for modern GOPers.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Ah, that’s my Goodhair, a day late and a dollar short.
None of this will matter, though; once the primaries actually start, he’s going to come out swinging like a mofo, and the battle between him and Mitt will be epic.
I am rooting for injuries.
CaliCat
“Lining up behind a loser” My bad, I thought this post was about Occupy Wall Street.