With all the attention on Barack Obama as he attempts to maneuver his agenda through Congress amid falling approval ratings and faux scandals about his birth place, the political situation at the state level is often ignored. It’s a bleak landscape out there, at least for incumbents. States are facing budget crises, corruption scandals (as usual), and voters are pissed the hell off. Now, generally, I am no fan of incumbents: I think it’s easy for people to get too comfortable in their seats and stop doing much good. But the unfortunate thing about this crisis is that it really is the fault of national politicians, not state governors. Yet the governors are suffering, too.

California is a good example of a state that's an absolute mess right now. Partly, it's California's own fault. Their referendum-based government makes it almost impossible to balance a budget, since citizens will always vote for lower taxes and more services. Citizens tend to be dumb that way. Schwarzenegger is not running for another term, so he is spared the humiliation of being rejected. 

Schwarzenegger has done some impressive things for a first time politician (and a Republican). He's supported tougher environmental regulations and been generally progressive. What he has completely failed to do, though, is lead the way to a budget that works for Californians. And, yeah, it doesn’t help that the national economy is collapsing.

As a non-Californian, it’s easy for me to think that Arnold has done a decent job with a tough situation. An impossible situation! But my friends in California despise him, and there appear to be no shortage of job applicants who want to try their hand at running the biggest, most unwieldy state.

In lovely Massachusetts, there is another governor in trouble. Deval Patrick is running again, and he leads the polls along with the independent candidate. The Republican, whoever it turns out to be, trails behind. That’s Massachusetts for you. But even though Patrick is leading, he’s leading with only 30%, and has low approval ratings. Why? Because the state is in a budget crisis. Sound familiar? It’s gotten so bad that lawmakers were considering shutting down the Boston Zoo and euthanizing the animals. Patrick is a great progressive, and he’s governed as he said he would when he was elected. But he too is crippled by the national economy, and blamed for it by fickle voters.

New Jersey and New York are also facing certain regime change. Refreshingly, this time it is the governors' faults. In New Jersey, the corruption-busting attorney general, Chris Christie, is leading the millionaire incumbent governor, Jon Corzine. Corzine wasn’t helped by the widespread corruption arrests last week, when several mayors (and a few rabbis) were charged with a money-laundering scheme. Oh New Jersey. Here’s hoping that Christie, if his lead holds, can do something about the incredible corruption.

New York just seems cursed with incompetent, stupid politicians. The elected governor stepped down for using prostitutes. Remember that? His replacement is wildly unpopular, and looks to be completely unable to win the Democratic primary. His downward spiral started when he completely bungled a smear campaign against Caroline Kennedy following her decision to drop out of the Senate race. What a crazy thing to throw away your power and influence on.

Bottom line is, it’s not just the federal government in disarray. The states are feeling the same pressures of economic downturn, corruption, and incompetence. Really makes one optimistic about the state of the country.