Results tagged “pollnumbers”

If this week's turmoil in Albany hasn't been enough to give Governor Paterson agita, a new poll is here to remind him that most New Yorkers have little faith that he is the man that can lead them through it. In this one, conducted by the NY Times, the governor's favorability rating sits at 21%, with over 70% saying the state is on the wrong track and a third of New Yorkers saying they wished they lived in another state. And with six in ten New Yorkers unable to even think of one example when asked what the best thing Paterson's done, maybe the Senate crisis could be his golden opportunity. Today he had strong words, telling WCBS 880, "My issue is that this is the last two weeks of session. This is a not a political time...Could we get rid of politics just for a few minutes and work on government?...This would be like stopping a movie right at the main part of the movie to discuss the contracts of the actors."

Governor Paterson hasn't winning any popularity contests in quite some time—maybe that's why he's played hardball yesterday, "stunning" people with his veto of the routine pension measure for police officers and firefighters that has been in place for almost thirty years. The plan allows newly hired employees to retire after 20 years at half salary.

New poll numbers released today indicate that Governor Paterson hasn't been able to bounce back in the eyes of voters despite recent moves to introduce gay marriage legislation, push the MTA bailout through legislature and an aggressive stance indicating that he has every intention of running in next year's election. A Quinnipiac poll shows the governor's disapproval rating remaining at over sixty percent (versus 28% approving) statewide and still significantly trailing Andrew Cuomo, including among black voters. Will a Cuomo challenge continue to be presented as alienating to African-Americans if that remains the case? Interestingly, despite Paterson stepping up his early 2010 campaign, over sixty percent of New Yorkers don't believe he will run—almost half also believe that such a run would be "bad for other Democrats."