Tim Kaine is off to a pretty good start, especially considering the complete lack of cooperation he's gotten from the House of Denigrates...er, Disgraces...er Delegates. According to a VCU poll released yesterday, 56% of Virginians rate Tim Kaine's performance as Governor either "excellent" or "good." Another 44% rates Kaine's performance as "fair" or "poor." According to VCU's press release on the poll:
Kaine+óGé¼Gäós performance rating is slightly lower than former Gov. Mark Warner+óGé¼Gäós job performance rating in a July 2002 Commonwealth Poll, six months into the first year of the Warner administration. In that poll, 60 percent rated Warner+óGé¼Gäós performance excellent or good and 40 percent rated it as fair or poor.Democrats were decidedly more positive about Kaine+óGé¼Gäós performance than Republicans; 73 percent of respondents identifying themselves as Democrats gave Kaine excellent or good ratings. Among Republicans, 59 percent said Kaine was doing a fair or poor job, and 41 percent said excellent or good. Independents were evenly split with 50 percent rating Kaine+óGé¼Gäós performance excellent or good and 50 percent fair or poor.
Compared with the results for Warner in July 2002, Kaine fared slightly better among Democrats, but his performance ratings were worse among Republicans and Independents.
Interestingly, 62% rated Virginia's financial management as "excellent," "very good," or "good." That's an even higher positive rating than people gave Tim Kaine, possibly indicating continued good feelings from the Warner/Kaine years and a slight annoyance at a) the transportation situation; and b) the increased partisan squabbling in Richmond? Hard to say...stay tuned for future polls.