O'Malley's job ratings plummet

In today's Washington Times Tony LoBianco and Seth McLaughlin write that O'Malley's tax hike battle has cost him politically;

Maryland residents say Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, is doing a worse job than President Bush, according to a new poll released yesterday.

Marylanders gave Mr. Bush, a Republican, a 36 percent job-approval rating, just slightly more than the 33 percent they gave Mr. O'Malley, according to the Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll.

A separate poll in Virginia shows 51 percent of residents approved of the work Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, is doing, while 46 percent approved of Mr. Bush's work.

The Times continues;

Mr. O'Malley's approval rating slipped 1 percentage point from October, before he called lawmakers back to Annapolis to raise $1.4 billion in taxes. But respondents who said he was doing a "poor" job increased from 30 percent to 37 percent.

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese declined to comment.

Yeah, wait'll Marylanders start paying that tax and see how unpopular he gets.

(Crossposted)