The five least popular Governors we’ve tested are Bill Richardson, Deval Patrick, Jim Doyle, John Baldacci, and Jon Corzine while he was still in office. The only one of those folks running this year is Patrick and I have a really hard time seeing him getting reelected even with three serious candidates in the race.

Here are the bottom five:

Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico) 28/63

Jan Brewer (R-Arizona) 26/43

Pat Quinn (D-Illinois) 25/55

John Baldacci (D-Maine) 25/57

Deval Patrick (D-Massachusetts) 22/59

I guess the back door RMV tax debacle didn’t help the fledgling governor of the Commonwealth.

Gov. Deval Patrick’s new willingness to step into the trenches of conservative radio yielded an invitation yesterday from talk jock Michael Graham, but the governor said he wants the right-wing ranters to play nice.

“I’m not lookin’ for a smackdown,” Patrick said yesterday after speaking to building trade unions in Plymouth. “All I’m saying is, I want to be out there. I want to talk to people.”

WTKK-FM’s Graham said, “We may not agree with him on everything, but the notion that this is some kind of lion’s den – please! It’s just people talking.”

Graham said he promised the governor there would be no “violence or nudity.”

Of Graham’s olive branch, Patrick said, “that’s very nice of him.”

The Herald reported yesterday that Patrick, seeking to gain traction in a tough three-way fight to retain the Corner Office, was “open” to hitting the airwaves with previously shunned right-wing hosts. Graham immediately invited Patrick on his show yesterday.

Patrick’s staff said he couldn’t fit a last-minute appearance into his schedule, but that he’d go on the air with Graham within weeks.

It appears, however, that Patrick won’t show up on another popular show:

Patrick aides were considering putting the governor on Herald columnist and WRKO-AM (680) host Howie Carr’s show, but Patrick seemed skittish about the idea.

“We’ll see,” he said.

There’s another show you can do, Governor! Come on, man! Do I have to beg?

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Todd Feinburg, Holly Robichaud, the Herald and Globe.

THIRD UPDATE: From the Globe.

For one thing, Patrick, despite his missteps, has managed to score some notable victories, including tough ethics reform, taxpayer-friendly changes to the public-employee pension system (although not enough), reorganisation of the state’s wretched transportation bureaucracy and an education-reform law that emphasises standards and accountability.

Patrick’s efforts to combat carbon emissions led a former California environmental official to say that Patrick “is trying to make California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a carbon girlie man”. Moreover, Patrick, a formidable campaigner, has maintained his nice-guy persona, with no hint of personal scandal. That matters in a state whose last three house speakers have run afoul of the authorities, and in which a state senator was caught by a surveillance camera stuffing cash down her bra.

Further, Kennedy notes:

The point is that whether Patrick loses his re-election bid, as expected, or manages an improbable comeback, it will have nothing to do with Barack Obama.

Despite their surface similarities, Patrick’s and Obama’s life experiences are dramatically different. Patrick grew up poor in a black section of Chicago. Obama’s existence, by contrast, was rootless and marked by his struggle for a racial identity.

One important characteristic defines them both, however. Each was elected promising not just to enact a specific set of proposals but to change the very way business is conducted. Each has found it much harder than he’d expected to fulfill that promise.

If Deval Patrick loses this autumn, it will tell us little about what Massachusetts voters think about Obama. But if he wins, it may provide Obama with something of a road map he can study – and possibly follow to his own re-election victory in 2012.

Kennedy’s piece is a must-read. If nothing else, it reminds those of us fundamentally opposed to Patrick’s vision just how much work needs to be done.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EST for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our guests will be pollster Scott Rasmussen and author Marc Thiessen. Plus, more from Scot Lehigh, Howie Carr and the Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: Gov. Patrick is willing to appear on conservative-leaning talk radio shows? I can think of one conservative-leaning talk radio show where he’ll receive a warm welcome! Plus, more from Howie Carr, David Bernstein, Rasmussen Reports, the Herald and Globe.

How do you know it’s election season? When Governor Deval Patrick takes time out of his day to more or less encourage a bunch of high school students visiting the State House to vote for him.

Popping out of his fourth-floor office on Wednesday, Patrick went down to a third-floor hallway where the championship girls soccer team from Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton had gathered before they were honored on the House floor.

Patrick greeted the girls, and told them that state law allows them to register to vote as long as they will be 18 before the next election. He repeated a frequent refrain that citizens get the government they deserve, and if they don’t get involved, government will be run by “professionals’’ who may not have their best interests in mind.

If Massachusetts citizens get the government they deserve, then what have we done to deserve this?

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From Red Mass Group, the Herald and Globe.

THIRD UPDATE: Charley Manning interviews Gov. Patrick. Plus, more from Holly Robichaud, the Herald and Globe.

‘ERIC DAHLBERG FOR STATE SENATE’ ANNOUNCES HIRING OF CAMPAIGN MANAGER
Veteran GOP campaign strategist Matt Grew joins the Dahlberg Campaign effective March 1st

Chelmsford, MA – March 1, 2010 – Today the ‘Eric Dahlberg for State Senate’ campaign announced that it has hired veteran GOP strategist Matt Grew to serve as manager.

Grew brings years of political experience to Dahlberg’s campaign for the State Senate in the Third Middlesex District. He previously served in the office of Governor Mitt Romney, where he worked on legislative affairs. He served as campaign manager for US Senator Scott Brown’s 2008 State Senate re-election campaign. Most recently, he served as events coordinator on the staff of Brown’s history-making campaign for US Senate.

“I hired Matt because he has the experience and skills to get the job done,” said Dahlberg. “He is a brilliant campaign strategist, a true gentleman, and a good friend.”

According to Grew, the decision to join Dahlberg’s campaign came easily: “I’ve known Eric and Suzanne for years. I received calls from several GOP candidates following Scott Brown’s election to the US Senate, but my decision was easy: I believe Eric is a leader who will be the right voice for the people of the Third Middlesex district.”

Grew joins the Dahlberg campaign on a full-time basis starting today, March 1st.

Additional information about the Dahlberg campaign is available at www.DahlbergforSenate.com.

The State House News Service, citing internal communications it obtained from the Administration through a public records request, recently reported that the governor’s senior aides “worked aggressively last fall to rebut negative stories and cast a positive glow to White House questions about Patrick channeling funds to a pedestrian footbridge near Gilette Stadium, the football venue owned by the governor’s friend and political benefactor Robert Kraft…” Reportedly, aides to Vice President Joe Biden had contacted Jeffrey Simon, the state’s federal stimulus czar, “asking him to defend” the funding of the Kraft project when it became public.

According to the News Service, “Patrick and other administration officials had vigorously defended the footbridge on economic development and public safety grounds, after repeated media questions about the friendship between New England Patriots owner Kraft and Patrick, who exchanged prized box seats during State of the Commonwealth speeches and Patriots games.”

Despite an all-out push by the governor, the footbridge was soon pulled from the list of approved projects.

The latest jobless figures put Massachusetts dangerously close to the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. There are now 329,100 Massachusetts residents out of work, which does not bode well for the state’s economic recovery.

One thing the rising unemployment numbers make clear is that the Patrick Administration’s economic policy has been a failure. The lack of a comprehensive jobs creation plan is hurting Massachusetts and putting the Commonwealth at a huge competitive disadvantage. The policies enacted over the past three years are hurting Massachusetts and have made a bad situation even worse. The question now is, just how high does the unemployment rate need to go before the Patrick Administration finally gets serious about taking action to put people back to work?

Almost one month to the day of entering the U.S. Senate after a race that rocked the political world, Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, has come out with his first piece of legislation — a tax cut.

It targets mostly working class Americans, those employees making up to about $200,000, with a temporary tax cut that would, according to data released from Brown’s office, save the average worker “about $100 a month for a total of at least $500 for individuals and $1,000 for working couples.”

Brown will win few, if any, Democratic supporters, however, as he seeks to pay for the entire amendment with “all unallocated stimulus funds,” of which Brown estimates there is “over $80 billion.”

There has not yet been a full analysis of the bill, which offers the tax cut for a six month period, which determines its price tag, by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Brown’s office, in a statement, said, “Families could immediately use their returned tax dollars to provide for their families and put back into the struggling economy to spur job creation.”

Let’s hope the new senator offers this provision real soon; and let’s also hope that Democrats were inspired by Brown’s non-partisanship and really consider this.

Gov. Deval Patrick’s lightning fast reversal yesterday on a controversial $5 Registry of Motor Vehicles fee unveiled by the Herald was an election year bid by the struggling governor to prove he can be responsive to Bay State voters, said political analysts.

“There’s such a populist outrage against any new taxes or hidden taxes, he couldn’t take on another charge that he has a tin ear to the people,” said Boston University political professor Thomas Whalen.

Patrick halted the fee – and vowed to hand out refunds – only one day after the Herald reported his administration had quietly installed a $5 charge for customers who renew their license or registration with an RMV employee at a branch office or on the phone.

“I appreciate what the registrar and (transportation) secretary are trying to do, but we’re going to have to look for another way to do this because the pushback has been actually quite understandable,” Patrick said.

Critics branded the new charge, which even caught legislators by surprise, as a “backdoor” tax on the poor and elderly.

Patrick said yesterday he supports the move to encourage more RMV transactions online, but said he didn’t want to burden taxpayers during hard economic times. The fee will be rescinded as soon as possible.

“I think he knows he’s got to look a lot better,” said John C. Berg, a political professor at Suffolk University.

Patrick’s dismal showing in recent polls means “he’s got to campaign from now to the election if he’s going to convince voters he’s on their side,” Berg said.

RMV began charging the fee Monday for anyone who walked into a branch office to renew a license, a registration or request a duplicate license. Motorists who used mail, the Internet, or the automated phone system were not charged.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EST for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our guests will be authors Dr. Roy W. Spencer and Steven L. Pease. Plus, more from the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the AP, Herald and Globe.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Herald, CNN.com and the AP.

Gov. Deval Patrick today announced he’s not only rescinding a controversial new $5 fee levied by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles he will even refund those who already paid it.

The move comes a day after the Herald reported the Patrick administration had quietly slipped in the new fee, surprising even members of the Legislature. Critics branded it a “back door” tax on the poor and the elderly.

Patrick said today the negative response was heard loud and clear.

“I appreciate what the registrar and secretary are trying to do, but we’re going to have to look for another way to do this because the push back has been actually quite understandable,” Patrick said.

“We want to make the government as responsive as possible but I think this is one we need to think about in a different way,” the governor added.

Patrick said earlier today the idea was to move more RMV transactions online, but he didn’t want to burden taxpayers during hard economic times. The fee will be rescinded as soon as possible.

RMV began charging the fee yesterday, for anyone who walked into a branch office to renew a license, a registration or request a duplicate license. Anyone who called and talked to an RMV employee to conduct those transactions was charged the fee, as well.

Motorists who used the RMV’s website to conduct business or their automated telephone system were not charged.

State lawmakers who were stunned by the new fee applauded the decision to rescind it.

I’ve believed for a long time that Deval Patrick is trying to tank his reelection “campaign” in order to keep his promise that he will, in fact, run for reelection–but lose. This sets him up for a cushy job in the ill-fated Obama Administration without being called a liar… he’ll be called a moron, but not a liar when it comes his promise to seek reelection. I think this back-door RMV tax that failed faster than he put new drapes on the windows is as close to proof as we’ve seen this year.