Governor Paterson Soars to 38% Approval in Poll; Gillibrand More Disliked

By Roy Edroso Mon., Jan. 18 2010 at 11:19 AM

Categories: Democracy, Featured

A new Siena Poll shows that Governor Paterson's approval rating has risen 11 points since October. Unfortunately, that only gets him to 38 percent. Most voters still have an unfavorable opinion of him, as they have by Siena's reckoning since March of last year, but at 52 percent his unfavorable is down from an April 2009 high of 63 percent.

Despite these impressive gains, nobody wants him to run for Governor this year. Go figure!

Reformers take note: 47 percent of respondents said Paterson "put aside politics to take on the special interests," yet they still don't like him. Note also that since practically the beginning of his tenure, the Governor has been said to do a "fair" job as Governor, as opposed to "good" or "poor." Back in school, this kind of grade meant you were obviously trying but not getting much of anywhere. Paterson is trounced by Andrew Cuomo and "Someone Else" in governor candidate preference, and tied with longshots Rick Lazio and Chris Collins.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also saw a boost in her numbers -- unfortunately of the negative kind: Siena clocks her at a 32 percent unfavorable rating, a gain of ten points in one month. For the first time this number outstrips her favorable rating, now at 30. Maybe these people are reading Wayne Barrett. As usual, "Don't Know" is her strongest number, at 38 percent. She still beats Harold Ford Jr., 41-17.

Facepalm moment: Voters disapprove strongly of the performance of the state senate, and most prefer that the party split that has helped paralyze it remain "closely divided," rather than returning a large majority for either party in the next election.

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