What gives?

Here is something that caught our eye: Morning Consult’s Q2 polling shows Gov. Michael Dunleavy’s approval rating actually increasing to 49 percent. While 32 percent of the poll respondents said they disapprove, 19 percent said they were uncommitted.

Whaaaa? How can that be? we wondered. How can his approval rating be going up when all you ever hear or read about Dunleavy puts him squarely in the political doghouse.

Dunleavy’s net approval rating, however, has climbed +16 percent from +13 percent earlier this year, Morning Consult reports. In the first quarter of this year, he had 42 percent approval from poll respondents, while 29 percent disapproved.

One might think that after seeing and reading the endless, heated cascade of Dunleavy-is-a-crazed-lunatic letters to the editor, raving commentaries and organized protests he must be the most hated guy in Alaska. We suspect among Democrats and big-government lovers he is the devil incarnate because of his $444 million in budget cuts and his steadfast refusal to budge on the notion of a full $3,000 Permanent Fund dividend. His penchant for smaller government probably does not help him with that crowd either. But the poll indicates not everybody thinks that way.

Shrill voices and organized protests tend to obscure reality. The constant negative, Alaska-is-dying drumbeat is an example. Is it possible Alaskans truly want full dividends and smaller government and believe Dunleavy is determined to deliver just that?

Will the next quarter’s polling change the picture after the storm of controversy over Dunleavy’s budget cuts, vetos and Permanent Fund dividend wrangling? We will see.

Morning Consult, a global online survey research technology company, surveys more than 5,000 registered voters across the United States about their governors and senators each and every day, reporting on the results quarterly.

In some instances, the results can be very enlightening.