Amid Anger at Albany, Poll Shows Support for Cuomo
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MARJORIE CONNELLY
Published: October 17, 2010
New York voters are profoundly pessimistic about the state economy, worried that they or someone in their household will be laid off in the coming year, and convinced that Albany is rife with corruption.
Complete Poll Results (pdf)
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But in the race for governor, they are rallying not around the gruff outsider who has promised to take a baseball bat to Albany, but around an insider who has spent much of his adult life working in government: Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.
A New York Times poll found that Mr. Cuomo has opened a big lead over Carl P. Paladino, drawing 59 percent of likely voters to his Republican rival’s 24 percent.
New Yorkers’ embrace of Mr. Cuomo stands in vivid contrast to many races around the country, where establishment candidates face steep climbs to re-election and insurgents backed by Tea Party activists appear poised to win a significant number of seats in Congress.
The two men, along with five minor party candidates, will appear Monday evening in the first debate of the campaign. Mr. Cuomo’s popularity appears to be fueled in part by widespread doubts about Mr. Paladino’s temperament and qualifications.
Some 59 percent of voters in the poll said that Mr. Paladino did not have the right temperament and personality to be a good governor, while 55 percent said that Mr. Paladino, a novice candidate who made millions as a real estate developer, did not have the right kind of experience.
Only 11 percent of voters in the poll had a favorable view of Mr. Paladino. And when asked what comes to mind when they hear his name, voters offered a collection of negative personality traits, like “angry,” “bigoted” or “obnoxious.”
“I’ve been reading about a lot of things he said and watching his ads and he seems very angry,” Michelle Sullivan, 52, a homemaker from Auburn who described herself as an independent, said in a follow-up interview. “We’re all upset in New York State with the way it’s been run, but I don’t think it’s a good thing for a candidate to be that angry. He’s scary-angry, actually.”Mr. Paladino’s standing in the poll may have been affected by its timing; it surveyed 1,139 adults Oct. 10 through 15, as Mr. Paladino was mired in controversy after expressing disgust with gay pride parades and commenting that children should not be taught that homosexuality was acceptable. Earlier public polls showed Mr. Cuomo leading by smaller margins.
Of the Times poll’s respondents, 943 said they were registered to vote. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, both for all respondents and for voters.
Mr. Paladino’s decline has helped Mr. Cuomo assemble a broad coalition of voters; he is favored by upstate voters, independents and moderates. He is supported by a majority of affluent voters —who tend to support Republican candidates — and by a quarter of Republicans.
The survey also revealed voters’ anxiety about their own financial situation; 69 percent worry that they or someone in their household will be laid off within the next year. Not surprisingly, they overwhelmingly want the next governor to focus on creating jobs.
Even as they express support for Mr. Cuomo, however, they are uncertain he can make a difference. While 27 percent say the economy will improve if Mr. Cuomo is elected, 53 percent say it will stay the same and 10 percent say it will worsen.
And despite both candidates’ pledge to reduce the burden of state and local taxes, similar proportions of voters — about 4 in 10 — said they expected their taxes will go up if Mr. Cuomo wins or if Mr. Paladino wins.
While Mr. Cuomo’s job approval ratings as attorney general are strong, he still appears to be best known as the scion of a political dynasty. When asked what first comes to mind when they hear Mr. Cuomo’s name, 31 percent said his father, the former governor Mario M. Cuomo, or his family name. Just 14 percent said they thought of him first and foremost as New York’s attorney general.
At the same time, 73 percent said he had the temperament and personality to be a good governor, suggesting that Mr. Cuomo largely shed his own reputation for brashness and political hardball, at least where voters are concerned.
“I think Cuomo is doing his job as attorney general honorably and honestly, and I think he is working for the people of New York,” said Diana Jeffords, 61, a retired postmaster from Albion, in Oswego County, and a Republican.
“I heard Mr. Paladino speak a few months ago and I don’t like the terminology he used — he said he’s going to take a baseball bat to Albany,” Mrs. Jeffords added. “Yes, people are angry about their money and stuff, but anybody that’s thinking has to know you get a lot more flies with honey than vinegar. As governor you are not going to go to Albany and say we’re doing this and this and this. It’s not a dictatorship.”
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