It’s been a rocky couple of weeks for Gov. Deval Patrick, and hard evidence of his waning popularity came in last night’s Suffolk University/7 News poll in which 49 percent of the respondents said they disapproved of the job he’s doing (vs. 40 percent who approve).
Despite the billions pouring into the state via President Obama’s stimulus program, the focus seems to be more on the taxes those on Beacon Hill are discussing to help solve the state’s transportation woes.
Of course it didn’t help matters when Patrick proposed that state Sen. Marian Walsh, D-West Roxbury, be appointed to a long-vacant, $175,000 post at the state’s Health and Education Facilities Authority. (They’ve since dropped the salary to $120,000 in an effort to quell the outrage.)
One local Democratic activist says mischievously that the governor’s p.r. problems are all the fault of Marblehead’s Michael Goldman (below). 
A longtime friend and adviser to Walsh, he’s been trying to find her a new job since she failed to win the Senate presidency in 2007.
