So far, so good: McDonnell’s popularity among Virginians high amid allegations of ethics violations

It’s said that first impressions are everything in personal relationships, and in Gov. Bob McDonnell’s case social scientists may have another case study example to prove this point. A recent Washington Post poll found that Virginia’s governor remains “firmly popular with Virginia voters.”

According to their poll, 64 percent of all registered voters in Virginia say they approve of McDonnell’s job performance. Even more shocking is that 64 percent is six percentage points higher than two Washington Post surveys in 2012. And even more shocking than that is the positive poll numbers McDonnell received from Democratic voters. Et tu, Democrats?

If the Washington Post poll is to be believed, one lesson that interested onlookers can take away is this:  engaging in unethical political relationships with wealthy CEOs is politically popular among Virginia’s registered voters…This makes about as much sense as wanting to get kicked in the teeth by a bucking bronco.

According to one registered Virginia voter, an 80 year-old retired federal contracting employee, “He [Bob McDonnell] could have done worse, I guess.”  These words summarize the mood that has overcome so many Americans who still have some about politics: I guess it could be worse (i.e., we really didn’t expect that much out of our elected officials, anyways).

It’s in the wake of stories like these that I want to throw down my moral axe and start hacking away (rhetorically speaking) at the seeming corruption of the people of Virginia (and America) themselves, their elected representatives aside.

If Virginians and Americans are unwilling to put their elected representatives to the same standards that any other American is held to, then an important incentive for politicians to play by the rules of the game has been lost. If the American people (and Virginians) are, on the whole, unwilling to express outrage over such blatant ethical violations like the ones committed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, then why would McDonnell and like-minded political back-scratchers not enrich their lives with wealthy CEO kick-backs (that is, engage in a little quid pro quo)?

This all assumes, of course, that most registered voters in Virginia view McDonnell’s actions as unethical. But the ‘clean’ image that McDonnell helped craft around his political persona has apparently been more effective than even he could have imagined. The people of Virginia, regardless of political party, appear to have taken the entire jar of kool-aid.

McDonnell’s Star Scientific saga is far from over, however, and the real test of just how engrained his ‘clean’ image is in Virginia may still be to come. By then, the kool-aid’s sugar rush may have worn off for Virginia’s registered voters.