Hijacking Government For Personal Vendettas Not Going Over Well Back Home

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KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 04: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during the Florida Freedom Summit at the Gaylord Palms Resort on November 04, 2023 in Kissimmee, Florida. The Republican Party of Florida hosted t... KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 04: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during the Florida Freedom Summit at the Gaylord Palms Resort on November 04, 2023 in Kissimmee, Florida. The Republican Party of Florida hosted the summit as candidates continue to campaign across the country. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Turns out grinding the government to a halt during a time of global crisis to flex power over your colleagues doesn’t go over super well with the viewers back home.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is experiencing some political repercussions for dumping gasoline on his fractured party’s descent into dysfunction when he ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for the sin of keeping the government open. While the congressman is still popular in his Panhandle home district, his standing in Florida overall is in a state of disrepair.

The Florida Atlantic University Mainstreet PolCom Lab released the results of statewide polling it conducted between Oct. 27 and Nov. 11 last week. It found that 57 percent of Florida voters are unhappy with Gaetz’s job as a congressman. That means that just 21 percent of voters surveyed approved of the congressman’s performance in Washington. About eight percent were “neutral” and 14 percent indicated they didn’t know how they felt, per the poll results.

When broken down by party, his approval rating is only a little less bleak. Among Democrats surveyed, almost 83 percent said they disapprove of the professional antagonist. But among Republicans, 36.3 percent disapprove of the congressman, with just 36.6 percent approving of his “work.” That’s less than the percentage of Republicans who responded to the same survey saying they approved of the decision to remove McCarthy as speaker — 42 percent. The Florida Atlantic University poll surveyed just under 1,000 Florida voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.

While Gaetz’s popularity in his home district is holding steady, his statewide disapproval follows news that the Republican may be interested in running for governor in 2026 when Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is term-limited out of the governor’s mansion. NBC News reported in September that the congressman was “100 percent in” on a potential 2026 bid. Gaetz has denied that reporting, offering only that his sole “political focus right now is Trump 2024.”

Yesterday’s Most Read Story

The Gathering Storm Of Trump 2.0 Is Upon Us — David Kurtz

What We Are Reading

What Republicans Are Missing on Abortion Politics, According to a Republican — New York Times

Mike Johnson’s America: Revisit landmark SCOTUS decisions and use government to ‘restrain evil’ — CNN

Attorney for Alleged MI Fake Elector Wants Co-Defendants to ‘Shut Up’ — Daily Beast

Latest Where Things Stand

Notable Replies

  1. I would say it’s inspiring for assholes to see how far they can go, but really, it’s the rest of us who could use the boost.

  2. Avatar for hoagie hoagie says:

    I don’t have much to add here. I have 3 dogs. No cats. I am old. But I encourage you to watch Groundbreakers on PBS tonight. My wife was a Title IX athlete in college. She prevailed against all odds. I want to honor her here. And yeah, Matt Gaetz is a worthless bag of human flesh.

  3. Avatar for gonzoc gonzoc says:

    If Syndrome were to get sucked into an obliging turbo fan, I’d shed no tears.

  4. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    No one should think otherwise, except for a doofus like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, or the many other members of the wildly misnamed “Freedom Caucus.” And then of course, there s the lead Doofus, Donald Trump. Somehow, all these idiots seem to have forgotten that their job as elected officials is to SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE and of the country, NOT THEMSELVES!.

    Personally, I am so sick and tired of their bellyaching and political games, I would just as soon see them all behind bars.

  5. It’s sad that Gaetz still has support in his district. And who are the 18% of Florida Democrats who DON’T disapprove?

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