President Obama won’t be on the ballot in New Jersey and Virginia when those states hold the nation’s only governor’s races in November. His policies likely will be.
Obama has been campaigning for both Gov. Jon Corzine, 62, of New Jersey and Creigh Deeds, 51, a state senator running for governor in Virginia. The president’s push for health care legislation and unprecedented federal spending on the worst financial crisis in 70 years has created headaches for his fellow Democrats, who both trail their opponents in the polls.
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“The political bounce on everything that’s happened this summer has made people much more cautious, much more conservative and fearful of change,” said Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.
Support for Obama and his policies has eroded over the summer. The percentage of Americans who disapprove of his handling of health care has jumped to 50 percent from 29 percent in April, an ABC News/Washington Post found.
In New Jersey, Corzine’s woes owe largely to state-specific issues like higher property taxes, failing schools, crumbling roads and corruption, said Baker.
“These are perennial problems,” he said. Republican challenger Christopher Christie, 46, a former U.S. attorney, blames Corzine for the state’s financial woes that Corzine says are part of a national downturn.
In Virginia, Deeds trails former Attorney General Bob McDonnell, 55, the Republican nominee, in statewide polls, and hasn’t stirred enthusiasm among black voters, a core part of the Democratic voter base.
A Quinnipiac University Poll released Tuesday found 60 percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of Corzine’s job performance. Corzine is 10 percentage points behind Christie in the poll, conducted Aug. 25 to 30.
A corruption scandal that led to the arrests of 44 people, many of them Democrats, has also become an issue. Fifty percent of New Jersey voters associate Democrats more with corruption, while 16 percent identify Republicans, the Quinnipiac Poll found.
In Virginia, the Obama effect is hurting Deeds among independents. A Washington Post poll gave McDonnell a 54 to 39 percent lead over Deeds. In June a Survey USA poll gave McDonnell just a four-point edge.
Deeds campaign manager Joe Abbey said independents are switching in part because they are unhappy with Obama’s policies on health care and spending.
“It’s rough,” Abbey said. “The White House has been very engaged since the second he became the nominee,” Abbey said. “Clearly they understand how to win in Virginia, but it’s a little different” this year because of the shift in independent support.
