Some months ago, I dubbed a small group of Republican governors elected in 2010, “Red Squad,” after a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode in which a group of cadets of the same name was undone by hubris and overreach. I’ll admit that I was worried that some governors, like Scott Walker of Wisconsin, would rebound in popularity after time passed and the controversy over collective bargaining rights faded. But I’m happy to be wrong, as Walker’s now roughly in line with all the other Red Squad members (PA’s Tom Corbett, Ohio’s John Kasich, Florida’s Rick Scott, and maybe Chris Christie and Michigan’s Rick Snyder too), at a lousy 37%. Obviously, the collective bargaining fight is just beginning, so that’s an ongoing drag on Walker’s approval for sure. But I think that the truth is that most of these guys are just crappy politicians. And, indeed, few of them have the sort of resume that screams successful governor: between them you have a fraud suspect, a FOX News pundit*, a guy who used to run a computer company and a former US Attorney, which is sort of an executive position but not a signficant one, and usually not a stepping stone straight to the governor’s mansion.

The irony is that Walker has probably the best resume for the job–running popular big-city mayors or county executives for governor is the logical move, while Christie has arguably the weakest resume for the job, and would have been a more logical candidate for state Attorney General or for Congress. And yet Christie is doing the best of these guys and Walker is doing the worst. But the thing is that Walker continues to undo himself with a combination of poor decisionmaking and risk assessment, amateur messaging, and an unappealing public persona, all of which is driven by a desire to play only to his Tea Party followers. I mean, this is a guy who wanted to take legal action to keep gay people from being able to visit their partners in hospitals. Can there be more than 10-15% of the population who even opposes that? And taking on public sector unions has led to months of avoidable conflict, not to mention that the recalls are forcing the state GOP to ram through a bunch of unpopular stuff like voter ID laws before those elections. That is likely further eroding his standing. By way of comparison, Chris Christie is not all that much more liberal than Walker from what I can tell, but he’s a much better politician. He’s presented himself, accurately or not, as an essentially nonpartisan opponent of corruption and privilege, and he’s focused like a laser beam on spending and bargaining issues, like Walker has. But Christie has formed partnerships with Democrats–admittedly out of necessity, but he’s nevertheless been good at dividing the opposition and getting stuff done. He has maintained professional messaging, without perpetually cracking asides about how he was going to hurt Democrats with his moves. He has not waded into contentious social issues. Christie’s popularity might be slipping, but it’s a damn sight better than all the other Red Squadders, because he actually does care about how he appears to the average voter. All the others seem to have bought the Tea Party propaganda and seems to think that about 51% of the electorate is hyperconservative and that taking uncompromising extremist positions is the path to victory, and they’re seeing the results of that.

Christie, of course, is a model by which many of the Red Squaders try to measure themselves. Walker is clearly influenced by him, but he evidently doesn’t understand Christie’s success all that well. Christie, much as I dislike his goals, is a disciplined and professional executive, outside of when he yells at teachers, but I guess that’s sort of his “thing.” Walker’s got the fanaticism but nothing else, though I suppose his political incompetence has gone over well with the national Republicans who like that he’s stuck his finger in the eyes of Democrats, but don’t really care that he’s probably crippled his governorship in the process. They can just blame that part on liberals! And all that applies just as much to Kasich and Corbett as well, though Snyder is a bit more of a complicated case. Polls indicate him to be perhaps the least popular of the group, likely because he campaigned as a moderate but has governed like a Teabagger. Was he a stealth wingnut? Maybe, maybe not. My suspicion is that Snyder is out of his depth having never been a politician before, is therefore a weaker governor than most, and that the tone is being set instead by Republicans in the state legislature. Just a reminder: when given the option between an “outsider” and an actual outsider, go with the “outsider,” if for no other reason than that he’ll know where to find the office supplies.

* Yeah, I know he was in Congress like fifteen years ago. So what? Things have changed quite a bit since then, haven’t they?