Despite the sources and their political leanings, pollsters are finding that the Star Scientific scandal is taking a toll on Governor McDonnell's approval ratings. A new Quinnipiac poll today also finds that overall, most Virginians still like their governor.
Qunnipiac's Peter Brown says many governors nationally NOT rocked by scandal would love to have McDonnell's current 46 to 37 approval rating. And most Virginia voters -by a 44 to 37 percent margin-still believe he's an honest governor with only 16-percent, mostly Democrats, who think he should resign. However, the majority of voters still are NOT happy with the way he's handled this crisis. And Brown says although McDonnell’s name had been bandied about for a national position, he's got a lot of work ahead of him if he has aspirations beyond this office:
"Anything's possible in politics--look at what's happening in New York with Elliot Spitzer. But obviously, these issues have hurt his standing in the state of Virginia, and would think would make him a less attractive presidential candidate than he would have been otherwise. Now, he clearly would have been a dark horse candidate anyway, but he was well thought of. This probably will make it more difficult should he be thinking about running for President."
This is the second Quinnipiac poll in a row where McDonnell's ratings are under 50-percent. Almost 80-percent of voters are aware of the controversy about gifts to McDonnell and his family from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams, and seem to be somewhat concerned