Gov. Rick Scott's first term honeymoon period was legendarily short before his approval ratings begin slipping to some of the worst in the nation, and it appears there'll be no second honeymoon this time around.
Despite reelecting him, a new poll finds that more Florida voters still disapprove of Scott's job handling than approve of his work just over a month into his second go-around in the governor's mansion.
The Quinnipiac University Poll surveyed 936 Florida votes between between January 22 and February.
They found that only 42 percent of Floridians approve of Scott's handling of his job, while 47 percent disapprove. Sure, by Scott's standards those are good, but by recently re-elected governor standards they're bizarrely bad. The poll also surveyed voters in another swing state, Ohio, who approved of their recently reelected Republican Governor John Kasich by a 55-30 margin.
Floridians are also much more positive about our two senators. Marco Rubio had a 47-35 approval split, with 44 percent saying he deserved to be reelected in 2016 (you know, if he's not busy running for president instead). Just 37 percent said he didn't. Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson had a 43-26 job approval ratio.
What's odder still though is that while Floridians still by and large don't care for Scott all that much, they're still optimistic. A full 53 percent said they're optimistic about his next four years in office, while just 39 say they're pessimistic about the next four years. More voters also say they're satisfied with Florida's direction than unsatisfied; 12 percent said they're "very satisfied," and 55 percent said they're "somewhat satisfied." Just 31 percent said they are very or somewhat unsatisfied with Florida's directions, while 47 percent said they felt Florida's economy was getting better, and only 9 percent said it was getting worse. The rest said it was about the same or didn't know.
This typically isn't the way polling works out. A politicians who has created optimism about his next four years in office, the economy and the state's direction usually has higher approval ratings.
Then again most politicians don't have the personality of a rock, like Scott. And most don't run for reelection against a party-hopping opportunity seekers with the personality of a used car salesmen like Charlie Crist.
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