DL Approval Ratings: Auditor Doesn’t Do His Job, and He Gets Low Ratings. Imagine that.
64% of Delaware Liberal readers disapprove of Auditor Tom Wagner (R). 51% strongly disapprove of him. Only 28% approve. That he continues to get reelected will be one of the unanswerable mysteries of life. Kinda like how the Charcoal Pit is considered a good place to eat.
Here is the remaining schedule:
Wednesday — Treasurer Ken Simpler (R)
Thursday — Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart (D)
Friday — New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon (D)
Treasurer Simpler’s results should be interesting. He’s hasn’t really done much yet to approve or disapprove of, and he is not said anything overtly annoying or overly Republican yet. So his rating will be just the pure favorability of your generic Republican in the state. Or it could be positive, since he has done nothing yet. So take the poll on the right side of the front page underneath the Vote Tracker sign. Of course, this is a voluntary internet poll, thus it is not random or scientific and the margin of error would have to be huge. So this is only for fun and not for any real value.
” Kinda like how the Charcoal Pit is considered a good place to eat. ”
LOL so true.
It is one of a number of positions in Delaware that should be based on qualifications rather than an election. The fact that someone could become auditor who has no idea how to audit due to an election is farcical.
RE: Simpler….can’t in good conscience disapprove of the guy who signs my paycheck. lol
Mike…. I can see the logic of electing an Auditor. By its very nature, the job should be independent of the Administration. But we definitely should not be electing Treasurers and Insurance Commissioners. Those positions should be part of the Governor’s cabinet and should be appointed by the Governor.
Wagner is the best auditor in the modern history of the office. He does his job well and could do better if Democrats in the General Assembly stop squeezing his budget to limit his reach.
Thankfully DL readers are only a sliver of the electorate. Sadly, you represent way too many.
Wagner IS “the modern history of the office.”
He’s the only auditor in the modern history of the office, so it’s impossible to compare him to what kind of job an actual auditor would do.
You know what else you won’t find at DL, David? A bunch of anti-semites arguing about whether Jews run the entire country or just the non-Tea Party parts. For that we have your site.
I agree that the auditor should be independent, and my dad always joked about splitting his vote party wise between auditor and administration so that there would be no loyalty. It made sense in a way, but Wagner seems to just be collecting a paycheck. My problem with him isn’t that he’s Republican so much as he’s only minimally doing his job at politically opportune times. Maybe a bipartisan committee or commission could choose an auditor from among qualified applicants. Not that Delaware will ever change…anything in that regard. We’ll keep voting for who registers our wills and other silliness.
if Democrats in the General Assembly stop squeezing his budget to limit his reach
Hey, doing more with less is a pretty standard corporate management mantra. If it is good enough for the IRS, it should be good enough for the Auditor’s office.
The Auditor is Republicanism personified. “Champion” the downsizing of the office to save tax payers dollars then when it’s discovered that audits aren’t getting done, blame the GA for not funding him. Genius.
He is a living example of the R dream of “If you hate gov’t like I do, elect me and I will show you just how bad it can be.” (but be sure to pay ME $100k+ a year with full benefits)
He can’t even audit his own checkbook well enough to know when his mortgage payment is due.
To me he’s like the Easter Bunny. Deep down inside, you know the Easter Bunny doesn’t do anything, and isn’t really real. But it feels good to have one, and somehow in his fancy suspenders and silver hair, he’s like a comfy, loveable old uncle who shows up now and then. Or, the Easter Bunny thing…
According to his website, he hasn’t released any inspection reports in almost 6 months – or before the election. Those are the ones the office does itself without outsourcing.
No doubt if you’re a fan of the status quo, he’s doing a great job.
Geezer, the modern office goes back to 1871.
AS for your allegation, it is one guy but really discouraging. We have one guy who seems to think everything relates back to some Zionist conspiracy. It is annoying but unlike many liberal commentators who try to dress up virulent anti-zionism and closet anti-semitism with supposed defenses of Palestinians, he is honest and not hateful of the group of people. Maybe it is to go to the edge of our banning policy, maybe because he doesn’t hate. I would love to see him go over the edge, but i have given up on that prospect.