Napolitano outpolls Bush among state Republicans

[WyLoochka]

Jon Kamman
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2005 12:00 AM

Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, appears to be more popular among Republicans than President Bush is among all Arizona voters.

In an Arizona Republic Poll of 600 voters statewide, 43 percent of voters gave Bush a rating of "good" or "very good," compared with his 55 percent victory in last year's presidential election.

Napolitano scored an overall approval rating of 57 percent. Among Republicans alone, she had 46 percent approval, or 3 percentage points more than Bush's overall standing.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/

[Balbus]

1. She's been a damn good governor - not surprised. eom

[skipos]

2. I don't know anything about her. Tell me more. nt

[Miss Chybil]

4. Google. nt

[Miss Chybil]

5. dupe

[expatriot]

7. She stands up to the Nazi Reichstag of a state legislature we have

on a daily basis. She is an amazing woman, she stands up against the RW state legislature all the time and she comes out on top, Repugs can't smear her as being an obstructionist, etc. because she is so good at getting her message out and people see her sincerity. She just glows in person. I've had the honor of meeting her a couple of times, she stays in contact with the grassroots but yet does not alienate moderate Dems... we have near-dixiecrat holdout establishment party here in Yuma County (extreme southwest AZ) and the establishment here loves her as much as they do in Tucson.

[Balbus]

9. She was previously the states Attorney General

When she decided to run against Matt Salmon for governor, with AZ being primarily a republican state, she was considered the underdog. But she managed to narrowly defeat him. Many talking-heads believe it was due to the corruption of the previously elected governor, Fife Symington, who was forced to resign due to a business real estate scandal.

Her governorship started off a little rocky due to a mountain name change fiasco. She wanted to re-name a mountain in the Phoenix area from Squaw Peak to Piestawa Peak, in honor of an Arizonan native american service person killed in Iraq. She didn't quite follow the legal guidelines to get it done, mainly by not waiting for a state mandated 5 year waiting period on all geographical name changes. But she got it changed nevertheless.

Since then, though, she has been listening to her constituents and reacting accordingly. She didn't like the minutemen on the AZ border, but acknowledge the immigration problem and their right to be there. She has since received Vincente Fox to the state capitol building twice to discuss this. She has requested twice to meet with Bush regarding the AZ border security problem but he has refused.

She has also stood up to the oil companies and basically told them there would be no more price hikes in AZ gas even before hurricane whatever (forgot name but the one right after Katrina) hit the Texas coast and after bitter threats from both sides, gas prices didn't raise a penny and have been dropping dramatically.

And the best news of all is she's probably a shoe-in for another term. All note-worthy Republicans are scared of her popularity and are refusing to run. (J.D. Hayworth most noteworthy of all :P)

[SiouxJ]

12. Nice synopsis

"She has requested twice to meet with Bush regarding the AZ border security problem but he has refused."

I think this is key to what that poll expressed. The border is a HUGE issue here and he has no interest in it.

Janet Rocks!

[Coventina]

14. It also helped that Matt Salmon was a Mormon nut-job.

The Goldwater-style conservatives (and there are a lot here) didn't want to stand behind a religious wacko. They only half-heartedly campaigned for him, and then quietly voted for Janet in the privacy of the voting booth.

[JusticeForAll]

3. This is awesome news

Thank you for posting it!

[expatriot]

6. AZ meme: Sen. Kyl = Bush, Jim Pederson = Napolitano

I am so honored to have Napolitano as my governor and Raul Grijalva as my US Rep. Now if we could only do something about my Senators (Kyl and McCain).

[AzDar]

8. While driving down the freeway here in Chandler (Phx suburb),

just this past Sunday,I asked Hubby if he noticed how many "W" stickers we AREN'T seeing these days.He said he, indeed, had noticed.
I mean, only 6-8 months ago it was nauseating to drive down the street and see just about every other vehicle with a "Dumbya" sticker on it...made me feel like I was surrounded by idiots, so this is good news indeed.
Napolitano is a conservative Dem, and this gives me hope that the challenger (Jim Pederson, former Dem party chairman here in AZ..helped get Napolitano elected) might actually be able to oust Jon Kyl(Bushbot)next year!

[WyLoochka]

11. I don't think Janet is a "conservative"

Watch her in her second term.

In her first term, she has had to deal with one of the most right wing whacked legislatures ever. And she has bested them time and time again.

Governor Napolitano will take her political capital and continue to pull the state to the left in her second term. We got a looooong way to go to even get to the middle here folks, so don't get discouraged.

[AzDar]

13. I think "conservative" is a relative term..IMHO, she is, and that's

what has made her Governorship so effective in a state like ours.
As for having to deal with and besting one of the most "right-wing, whacked legislatures ever", I certainly agree.
I think this is an example of the Bush-backlash..everything Republican has the faint odor of corruption and incompetence wafting around it, thanks to Lil' Boots. Keep it comin' guys!! LOL

[noahmijo]

10. Janet rocks I love that woman

Now THAT is the woman we should be running for president if we insist on a female president.

I bet she could carry Arizona as this poll is eluding to.

[madmark]

15. Its not rocket science: she does a good job and polls well as a

result. If Bush was competent and did a good job he might poll well too.

[drb]

16. ....and if pigs could fly, we'd all wear big floppy washable hats!

nt

[drb]

17. She's an excellent governor in my opinon. A politician with some...

...common sense. We need about a zillion more like her!

[FrannyD]

18. talked about it on c-Span

this morning. It was good news indeed. Arizona is lucky to have her.

[lonestarnot]

19. Good on Janet Napalitano! We love her!

[AnneD]

20. My Mom is an AZ native and lives there....

I keep up with it all defacto. I love her. I liked her the moment she renamed Piestwa Peak (it was the right thing to do). This is where the DEM leadership should come from and she is a leader. The DNC needs to cultivate these leaders (via grass roots) and ditch the ones that are not worthy to be associated with the party. I have no problem with conservative DEMs as long as they adhere to basic tenants (remember to dance with them that brought you, never balance the budget on the backs of the poor, middle class, or small businesses, allow people to make their own moral choices...etc).
Mom voted for Bush and although she won't admit it, I think she may be rethinking and she is very defensive when we discuss pol1tics. Oh well, at least she has a good govenor.

[goforit]

21. Tooo funny!