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WESTERN GOVERNORS: Gibbons' numbers beyond compare

Residents of neighboring states give their leaders higher marks

























CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons should avoid entering any popularity contests against other governors in the Mountain West. He would come in dead last.

Fewer than one out of four Nevadans believe Gibbons has been doing a "good" or "excellent" job as the state's chief executive.


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  • Gibbons' 23 percent positive rating is at least 30 points lower than that of any of the other five Western governors whose job performance was rated by voters in their states in a regional poll commissioned by the Review-Journal, Denver Post and Salt Lake Tribune.

    And Gibbons was the only governor whose "excellent" rating was in the single digits -- 6 percent.

    The Nevada governor's positive performance percentage is less than half of the next lowest rated governor, New Mexico's Bill Richardson. Fifty-six percent of respondents in that state felt Richardson was doing a good or excellent job.

    Utah's Jon Huntsman Jr. and Wyoming's Dave Freudenthal received better than 80 percent positive scores from voters in their states.

    The survey found 46 percent of Nevadans polled believe Gibbons is doing a "poor" job as governor. That compares with just 3 percent of Wyoming residents who believe Freudenthal has been a poor governor.

    Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., interviewed 400 residents in each state in coming up with the ratings. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

    "It is embarrassing to the state and embarrassing to himself," state Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said about Gibbons' low ratings.

    Horsford said he isn't critical of Gibbons over his messy divorce with his wife, Dawn Gibbons, but over his lack of leadership and inability to come up with ways to balance the state budget other than massive spending cuts.

    "He has no solutions," Horsford said. "I am not surprised by the results."

    Gibbons press secretary Ben Kieckhefer had a different reading of the poll results.

    Besides the 23 percent who believe Gibbons has been an excellent or good governor, Kieckhefer noted 27 percent of those polled in Nevada believe Gibbons is doing a "fair" job.

    "With an economy that has struggled since the day he took office, half of those polled think the governor is doing a fair job or better," Kieckhefer said. "That's not too shabby considering the state of things.

    "Budget cuts are never popular, but you know what, neither are tax increases. Governor Gibbons has kept his promise to the people of Nevada that he would hold the line on taxes; and when this economy turns around, which it will, the state of Nevada will be the better place for it."

    The latest positive ratings for Gibbons actually are up slightly from two months ago. At that time, Mason-Dixon found 21 percent of respondents in Nevada rated Gibbons a good or excellent governor.

    Besides rating Gibbons' performance as governor, the survey also found that half of those polled in Nevada believe the governor's pending divorce, and allegations he had been involved with another woman, have not affected his ability to lead.

    Forty percent believe the divorce has hampered his ability to govern; 10 percent were undecided.

    Silver Springs resident Susan Jones, who participated in the survey, gave Gibbons a poor grade.

    "He is against raising taxes in Nevada, when that is what we need to do badly," she said. "He has cut funding to schools, to transportation. You don't kill schools, kill roads, or you kill your future."

    Jones said the divorce does not bother her, but what irritates her is that Gibbons and his wife "lied" to voters by presenting themselves as a happy couple during the campaign in 2006.

    "Why didn't he get a divorce before he was elected governor?" Jones asked.

    Las Vegas political consultant Jim Denton, a longtime Gibbons supporter, blamed the governor's ratings on the bad Nevada economy.

    "Good economies benefit governors and bad economies hurt them," Denton said. "When things go bad, the governor is blamed. We lead the nation in foreclosures, and our unemployment rate is approaching 7 percent."

    Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico are energy-producing states, and their governors' performance ratings are higher because their economies are doing much better, according to Denton.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico had 3.5 percent, 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent unemployment rates respectively in July, far below Nevada's 6.6 percent and the nation's 5.7 percent.

    Denton also mentioned Gibbons' positive ratings are higher than those of Congress. A Rasmussen Reports survey in July found only a 9 percent approval rating for Congress.

    But Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon managing partner, said Gibbons' lack of popularity can't be blamed solely on the economy.

    "He has been unpopular almost since the day he was elected governor," said Coker, noting that the Wall Street Journal was reporting about that time that the Department of Justice was investigating whether Gibbons took bribes while in Congress in exchange for helping a Reno friend secure federal business.

    In a May 2007 poll, Mason-Dixon found just 28 percent of Nevadans had a favorable view of Gibbons as governor.

    Coker said he seldom has seen governors with lower performance ratings. Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards was rated lower, "but he was about to go to jail."

    Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel @reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.

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    mk wrote on August 25, 2008 08:51 AM:
    Mama Bear,

    Coo Coo, coo coo, coo coo, It's time to take your meds! Put down the National Enquirer (The RJ),they are only trying to sell news papers, not the news. The news media can control public opinion of almost everyone by hints and allegations. You are a prime example.


    rb wrote on August 25, 2008 07:21 AM: Since when are ID, MT, WA, OR and CA no longer considered "western states"? Perhaps AK and HI are "western states" too!. Gibbon may not being doing great, but neither is Arnold. Why not show the whole picture?


    Correction wrote on August 25, 2008 05:31 AM: "Mad American wrote on August 24, 2008 09:07 AM: br ... Clinton left office - and the national debt - in the black, not the red."

    1/20/1993 National debt was $4.188 Trillion, 1/19/2001 National debt was $5.727 Trillion. These numbers are red, not black.


    Diogenes wrote on August 24, 2008 09:08 PM: Well put, Mama Bear. All I can figure is, none of them has had Gibbons slam any women they know up against a wall. But his personal life wouldn't matter if he didn't break the law by hiring an illegal immigrant as a nanny after carrying on about illegal immigrants, lie about why he needed to take the oath of office, and claim Democrats paid off the Wall Street Journal to write bad things--actually, the truth--about him. But they would rather join him with their heads in the sand.


    ron0neil wrote on August 24, 2008 07:15 PM: I probably only speak for the natives of this state, but we are a bunch of liberty loving people who are quite capable of managing the aspects of our lives without government interdiction at every step. We tote guns to ensure and defend our individual sovereignty from the biggest usurper of them all...the government.

    Gibbons will have my vote if he chooses to run again because he has stuck to his word on not increasing taxes which are mainly used to line the pockets of people like "Pinky" and his coat-tail riding son Rory who have never spent a day working in their life.

    Gibbons has asked the government to be fiscally responsible with money they haven't earned themselves...oh, the horror. He has asked for cuts in pork-laden programs. Look at higher education and Gibbons letter to Rogers. (http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/blogs/documents/2008/08/20/8-19-08_Letter_to_Rogers.pdf

    The General fund taxation in this state and spending to coincide has increased around 70% from '02 to '06 with a population increase of around 20% in the same time period. The government is foaming at the mouth for more money to spend...on nothing but political capital to ensure job security by providing entitlements. NV is getter closer and closer to CA which is almost bankrupt due to the nanny-style entitlement system.

    I applaud Gibbons and the word he has kept. He may be running around with playboy bunnies and cocktails waitresses but at least the ones he has been caught with are hot. If he was running around with someone who looked like Dina Titus, then I might just question his judgement.


    Mama Bear wrote on August 24, 2008 06:21 PM: RonNV|Tim ~~ you both are most obviously being paid off by Governor Throttlebottom. He is one of the most corrupt and ineffecutal mistakes at the state's helm in Nevada's history.

    Fercryinoutloud, get over yourselves. You simply look so foolish, you certainly cannot come face to face with real intellectuals. Gibbons has proved himself to be a total fool, and you obviously were never at events where he spoke prior to his election. Even his soon-to-be ex-wife knows the truth and understands his perpetual philandering and probably really understands his inability to grasp the fact that many women have choices about NOT wanting to be "scored" in a parking garage. Yes, boys, women are entitled to say "No." It's really now a law. But obviously, you both cannot read or digest the intended messages of law. Too bad, so sad.

    He lacks a value system for anybody but those who have more money then him!!!!!

    You boys really need to hook up with Gibbons and start the DDCSN (Dumb and Dumber Club of Sourhtn Nevada).

    He's out and you boys don't really have anything going for you either.

    RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS! RECALL GIBBONS!


    RonNV wrote on August 24, 2008 05:54 PM: Leave Gibbons personal life out of the equation. The guy is making serious budget cuts because he has to. It is not a pleasant thing but like in most families you just have to make do with what you have. I could care less what other governors thing about him. He is a decent guy and I support him.


    Tim wrote on August 24, 2008 05:26 PM: sorry,make that wart on mamma bears face is beautiful,i was laughing too hard.


    Tim wrote on August 24, 2008 05:19 PM: all ignorant people who think the gov.cannot get enough taxes, raise your hands.that beauty mark on mamma bears face is beautiful.


    Mama Bear wrote on August 24, 2008 04:50 PM: You Gibbons fans would probably call a wart on your nose a beauty mark, and a felon is a person who experiments with the legal system. Figures.

    The truth is out, and you simply cannot explain this messy man away. And, your ignorance along with his incompetence is an embarrassment to the rest of decent Nevadans.


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