NYS Governor's Ratings Plunge to Record Low
According to the latest poll, NYS Gov. David A. Paterson's approval ratings are lower than Eliot Spitzer's, Paterson's predecessor, were in the final days of his prostitution scandal- plagued administration.
March 4, 2009
Paterson's Approval Rating Plunges to Record Low
By Danny Hakim
NY Times
ALBANY. NY ?? Gov. David A. Paterson is making history these days, but not in a positive way.
On Tuesday, the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion released a poll that pegged Mr. Paterson??s job approval rating at the lowest point in the 27 years that Marist has been surveying public opinion of New York governors.
Only 26 percent of the 1,045 registered voters surveyed said Mr. Paterson was doing either a good or excellent job, while 71 percent said he was doing a fair or poor job.
Even Eliot Spitzer had a higher approval rating, 30 percent, in his last days as governor after being implicated in a prostitution scandal almost a year ago.
The poll, conducted in late February, indicates that voters believe Mr. Paterson is working hard and understands the state??s problems, but suggests that people do not have confidence in his ability to lead.
Mr. Paterson and his aides declined to comment on the survey Tuesday.
After a series of missteps, including his botched handling of the selection of a senator to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, the governor has acknowledged his political troubles.
??If it wasn??t for A-Rod and Bernie Madoff, they??d of just about run me out of this state right now,? he joked in an interview on WFAN-AM in New York this weekend.
Last week, he overhauled his staff, and he has said he is determined to right his administration.
The Marist poll follows a similar showing for Mr. Paterson in a Quinnipiac University poll; both showed that he would be trounced by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo in a hypothetical primary matchup. Mr. Cuomo has said he likes the job he has, but has also not ruled out a run for governor.
Mr. Paterson has been beset by an array of difficulties. In Albany, Democrats have been unnerved by his tendency to contradict himself and back away from policy positions while the state is on a fiscal precipice.
He also frayed his relationship with some senior Democrats after his administration leaked misleading information about Caroline Kennedy after she withdrew her candidacy for the Senate.
??You??re dealing with a bad economy, low scores on his handling of the budget, a messy Senate pick, a lot of TV ads about cutbacks and a drop in his leadership numbers,? said Lee M. Mitinhogg, director of the Marist institute. ??There??s a lot of erosion at the core, not just at the edges.?
Roughly two-thirds of those surveyed feel the state is not headed in the right direction, but Mr.Miringoff said some politicians had managed to distinguish themselves amid the gloom.
??It isn??t that voters are in a grumpy mood,? he said, adding that Senator Charles E. Schumer and Mr. Cuomo were doing well in approval ratings. ??So sometimes everyone takes a hit, and that??s not what we??re seeing here.?
Among Democrats, Mr. Cuomo would beat the governor in a hypothetical primary matchup, 62 to 26 percent. In a general election, Rudolph W. Giuliani would beat Mr. Paterson, 53 to 38 percent, the poll found. There is evidence that Mr. Paterson could beat a lesser-known candidate like former Representative Rick A. Lazio, a Long Island Republican; according to Marist, Mr. Paterson would win, 47 to 35 percent.
The Marist poll also suggests that Kirsten E. Gillibrand, whom the governor tapped to replace Mrs. Clinton, has yet to win over voters. Ms. Gillibrand, a former congresswoman from upstate New York, was rated as fair or poor by 32 percent of voters and good or excellent by 18 percent, with half still unsure of her performance.
The Marist poll was conducted by telephone last Wednesday and Thursday; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
One of the governor??s biggest problems has been turmoil within his staff. Mr. Paterson, a former longtime state senator, had limited executive experience before taking over as governor after Mr. Spitzer resigned, and has struggled to assemble a staff.
In late October, he lost his top aide, amid a tax scandal; Mr. O??Byrne has since returned as an outside political adviser. In recent weeks, the governor??s communications director, his main political consulting firm, his top security aide and his top communications strategist have all departed. Last week, the governor said that William J. Cunningham III, who had replaced Mr. O??Byrne, would himself be replaced after a little more than three months on the job. Larry S. Schwartz, a deputy executive of Westchester County, has replaced him.
??He??s got staff problems that are monumental,? said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, who said there was still time for the governor to turn himself around by the 2010 election ?? not that it will be easy.
His first task will be successfully navigating the budget negotiations amid perilous fiscal circumstances. An array of powerful Albany interest groups, particularly labor unions, are spending millions of dollars on commercials criticizing his proposed cuts.
??He??s got himself in this mess, and he can get himself out of it,? Mr. Carroll said. ??It??s up to him.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/ny...l?ref=nyregion
