Best/Worst Governor Final Round

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BEST GOVERNOR BRACKET

1) Jodi Rell (R-CT)

After taking over the Governorship when former John Rowland was forced out of office in the midst of a wide corruption scandal, Rell cleaned house and after being diagonsed with breast cancer, Rell's approval ratings soared to over 80%.  Rell is considered a liberal Republican and has rebuffed lawmakers of her fellow party with respect to a civil unions bill, filing a lawsuit against No Child Left Behind and for supporting a return of the estate tax.  In the Best/Worst Governor, Rell crushed fellow Republican Bob Taft of Ohio to make the "Best Governor" bracket and earned a Round 2 bye.  She then survived a scare from Republican Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii in Round 3 but more handily beat Republican Jim Douglas of Vermont and Democrat Brad Henry of Oklahoma to make the final matchup.

6) Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

Schweitzer, a former rancher, ran a grass-roots campaign and nearly upset Republican Senator Conrad Burns in 2000.  Building off his success in 2000, Schweitzer ran for Montana's open governor seat in 2004 and with a Republican running mate defeated Bob Brown for the seat.  Despite being a Democrat in a heavily Republican state, Schweitzer was able to election by balancing his populist speaking style and charisma with somewhat libertarian views with respect to policymaking.  In Best/Worst Governor, Schweitzer earned a spot in the Best Governor Bracket and a second-round bye in a pummeling of Republican Matt Blunt of Missouri.  In Round 3, Schweitzer shut out fellow Democrat Mike Easley of North Carolina and defeated Democrat Richard Codey of New Jeresy in Round 4.  Schweitzer defeated Democrat Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming in Round 5 to earn his spot in the final round.  Interesting Note:  Schweitzer has won every round by at least six votes.

So the matchup:

1) Jodi Rell (R-CT)
6) Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

WORST GOVERNOR BRACKET

4) Kathleen Blanco (D-LA)

Things have not gone well for Blanco since taking office in 2003.  After analysts attributed her narrow win over Republican Bobby Jindal to racism (Jindal was of Indian descent) and running a smear campaign, she was met by further controversy over a meeting with Fidel Castro.  However, Blanco's problems were magnified with Hurricane Katrina slamming into her state in 2005.  Blanco was criticized for a slow and inapporpriate reponse to the disaster.  In Best/Worst Governor, Blanco was forced into the Worst Governor Bracket by Republican Jon Huntsman of Utah and had a second round bye.  Blanco was pummeled in the first two rounds of the Worst Governor Bracket by Democrat Christine Gregoire of Washington and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.  Blanco sealed her fate in the final two of the Worst Governor Bracket by narrowly losing to Republican Bob Taft of Ohio.

2) Frank Murkowski (R-AK)

After a long career serving in the United States Senate, Murkowski decided in 2002 to retire and seek Alaska's governorship, in which an open seat over Democrat Fran Ulmer.  To replace himself in the Senate, the governor announced he would conduct a thorough search for his successor and chose State Rep. Lisa Murkowski, who also turned out to be Frank's daughter.  This caused widespread complaints of neopotism in Alaska and consquently a massive drop in Murkowski's approval ratings.  He has also come under fire for suggetsing that Alaska by him and the state police a private jet.  In Round 1 of the Best/Worst Governor Tournament, Murkowski was walloped by Republican John Hoeven of North Dakota and earned himself a spot in the Worst Governor Bracket and a second round bye.  He was crushed by Republican Bill Owens of Colorado in Round 3, but narrowly lost to Democrat Rod Blagojevich of Illinois and Republican Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky to be in the final 2.

The matchup (vote for your FAVORITE still):
4) Kathleen Blanco (D-LA)
2) Frank Murkowski (R-AK)

[nini2287]

BEST
6) Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

WORST
2) Frank Murkowski (R-AK)

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

BEST:

6) Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

WORST:

4) Kathleen Blanco (D-LA)

[GOP = Terrorists]

6) Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

[True Democrat]

Rell

Murkowski

[minionofmidas]

Schweitzer; pass.

[Q]

Rell

Murkowski

[Jake]

1) Jodi Rell (R-CT)
2) Frank Murkowski (R-AK)

[Moooooo]

Easy...

Schweitzer

Blanco

[Sam Spade]

Best - Schweitzer
Worst - Murkowski

[useful idiot]

Schweitzer

Blanco

[© tweed]

Schweitzer
Blanco

[ian]

Schweitzer

Blanco

[The Duke]

The best Governor is Arnold Schwarzenegger and the worst is Bob Taft, but my vote for best will end up with Rell and my vote for worst goes to Blanco.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The best Governor is Arnold Schwarzenegger and the worst is Bob Taft, but my vote for best will end up with Rell and my vote for worst goes to Blanco.

Someone who had sex with a 16 year old when he was 28, and met with Ken Lay right before he price gouged California is the best governor? Your corrupt buddy Arnold is going down next year. Hasta la vista!

[The Duke]

The best Governor is Arnold Schwarzenegger and the worst is Bob Taft, but my vote for best will end up with Rell and my vote for worst goes to Blanco.

Someone who had sex with a 16 year old when he was 28, and met with Ken Lay right before he price gouged California is the best governor? Your corrupt buddy Arnold is going down next year. Hasta la vista!

Wow, he met Ken Lay?  I guess that means Arnie was in on the fix.

Besides, I thought the Clinton line was that someone's sexual activities were seperate from their job performance?  Or does that only apply to Democrats?

You're a complete idiot.  You really are walking into punches at this point.

[minionofmidas]

Besides, I thought the Clinton line was that someone's sexual activities were seperate from their job performance?  Or does that only apply to Democrats?

No, that only applies to sexual activities in office.
(Well, Jfern's defense is going to be that what Arnie did was illegal and that that makes a big difference. He has a point, but I`m tired of that line of his anyways.)

[nini2287]

The results are in and by a 9-4 margin, the nation's best governor is Brian Schweitzer is Brian Schweitzer of Montana!



And by a 7-6 margin, the nation's worst governor is Frank Murkowski of Alaska.