Leading Indicator

Leading Indicator - The new Minnesota poll shows Governor Pawlenty's popularity is increasing:

"Two of the more telling indicators in the January poll are those showing his standing among older Minnesotans and political independents.
In September, only 46 percent of those over the age of 65 said they approved of Pawlenty. In the latest poll, three months after he mounted his Canadian drug-buying initiative -- a plan that drew harsh rebukes from conservative interest groups and the Bush administration -- 61 percent of 65-and-over Minnesotans approved of his performance.
In September, 37 percent of self-described independents approved; in the January poll, 52 percent. Among conservatives, Pawlenty's standing improved by only 3 points, to 71 percent, but among liberals it increased 9 points, to 37 percent. Even among DFLers it rose 7 points, to 40 percent."

Although another recent poll shows the President's popularity has dropped a few points in Minnesota, Pawlenty's growing popularity should help this fall.

On one hand, like the President, Pawlenty is earning much of this popularity by departing from many conservative principles. On the other, unlike the President, he's held to two of the big ones - no new taxes, and rollback of gun control with the Minnesota Personal Protection Act.

So here's the question; what does the DFL have? For the past year, their entire agenda has been:

• Trying to pin trumped-up ethics charges on the administration
• Complaining about budget cuts that, in terms of actual numbers, weren't.

What am I missing?

Posted by Mitch at January 26, 2004 06:04 AM