Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has made a name for himself over his first year in office by vocally opposing the Obama administration’s signature initiatives — and according to a recent poll, his constituents seem to like it.
In a new Roanoke College poll, 57% of Virginia voters said they approve of the way McDonnell is handling his job as governor, versus 26% who said they disapprove. In the same poll, just 36% of respondents approved of President Obama’s job performance, while 52% said they disapproved.
In 2009, McDonnell campaigned against the Obama administration’s stimulus bill and health care overhaul en route to reclaiming the state’s governorship for the GOP for the first time since 2002. Term limits prevented outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine from seeking reelection.
The poll’s findings could be a bad omen for Obama as he gears up for reelection. Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1964, though the poll makes his prospect of doing so again in 2012 seem daunting.
The Roanoke poll of 601 Virginia voters was conducted November 29-December 8. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.
