One Republican governor is trying to win re-election by reducing regulation of alcohol, thus, in his mind, shoring up the women’s vote.
Tom Corbett, the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, has poll numbers so terrible that today the Washington Post labeled them “epically bad.” Corbett is desperately trying to save his job. As a Republican who opposed same-sex marriage, he read the tea leaves and chose to not fight a ruling that found his state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional — after spending up to $400 an hour on outside attorneys to defend the ban in court.
And that’s after he compared same-sex marriage to incest.
Corbett last year embarrassed himself by claiming his administration really wanted to hire Hispanics, but just couldn’t seem to find any. Turned out, he had one. Yes, one Hispanic person in his entire administration.
None of this has helped his popularity.
In his race to save his job against a political newcomer, Democrat Tom Wolf, the Post lays out the numbers:
- Among Republicans, he leads Wolf just 48-24.
- Among single people, he trails 51-15.
- Among moderates, he trails 59-13.
- Among non-white voters, he trails 58-2. (And that includes a relatively significant amount of Hispanics.)
- Forty percent of non-whites and 43 percent of Philadelphians are undecided. Those voters are quite simply not likely to vote for a Republican governor. For example, 86 percent of Philadelphians voted for Democrat Bob Casey in the 2012 Senate race.
- While nationwide, Republicans are clearly more enthusiastic about the 2014 election, in Pennsylvania the Democrats are four points more likely to say they are certain to vote.
Corbett’s numbers are likely to take a dive again, after the comments he made last month that are just now hitting the mainstream press, thanks to the Campaign for a Fresh Start, a campaign working to elect Democrats in the Keystone State.
“I think a lot of people want to be able to walk into a grocery store, particularly, a lot of the women, want to go and buy a bottle of wine for dinner, go down, buy a six-pack or two six-packs, buy dinner and go home rather than what I described as three stops in Pennsylvania.â€
Yes, Governor Corbett is trying to relax his state’s liquor laws so women can “buy a six-pack or two six-packs, buy dinner and go home.”
And, presumably, cook.
Watch:
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Image by Chesapeake Bay Program via Flickr
Hat tip: PhillyMag via Talking Points Memo
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