The internals aren't out yet, but the Globe's Scot Lehigh has the results of the latest UMass poll on the governor's race. Things look even worse for the governor in the early going.
Question: Does Romney deserve to be reelected governor or is it time for a change?This is the lowest we've seen Romney poll against anyone. The Reilly and Patrick numbers are about where we've seen them before, so what seems to have happened is that Romney managed to turn off people he was appealing to as recently as January. I think that Lehigh has the right idea when he links this to Romney's recent out-of-state campaigning in advance of 2008. Romney seems to have mentally checked out of a job he was never particularly interested in in the first place. Not only that, but as he touts his record as a social conservative in South Carolina and Missouri, the social moderates back home start to wonder if Mitt is really the guy they want representing them.
April January Deserves to be reelected 33% 43% Time for a change 50% 49%
Head-to-Head
Challenger Romney Tom Reilly 44% 36% Deval Patrick 27% 36%
To counter this, Romney is trying to puff up his record with radio ads touting his accomplishments. I haven't yet heard one, but I can only guess that they're pretty short spots.
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