Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell shows how conservatism leads to growth and prosperity — even as Obama seeks to raise taxes, kill jobs, and stifle the economy. And the results of how such fiscal conservatism, dutifully adhered to, register with voters speak for themselves:

Next year President Obama will have to campaign on his record—trillion-dollar deficits, skyrocketing debt and massive tax increases that have failed to adequately rein in unemployment. Meanwhile, Republican governors will have delivered balanced budgets without raising taxes and the entitlement reforms they made will have actually saved jobs.

The low popularity of Democratic governors facing re-election in 2012 tells us quite a bit about how the public regards the policies and work done by the president’s party in the state capitals. The president and the Democratic National Committee have cause for concern. Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire announced last week that she would not seek re-election, after being dogged by dismal approval ratings. North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue’s approval rating is bogged down around 30%—not a good sign for the Democratic ticket in a state the Obama campaign has declared a top priority.

There’s a reason that no Republican governor seeking re-election has lost a general election since 2007, while three Democrat governors have fallen in that same period. Voters expect their state executives to make tough decisions with future generations, not weekly polls, in mind. That’s exactly what Republican governors have done and what President Obama has failed to do. And that contrast will make a difference at the ballot box in November 2012, to the advantage of the Republican presidential nominee.

After which time, President HuntsRomeyman will squander that goodwill by governing as a very civil centrist who wants nothing more than to reach across the aisle to progressives, who love this country as much as we do, their desire to change the Constitution and revamp the whole racist, homophobic, misogynistic thing notwithstanding.