Governor Paterson's 'own people' are against him, too, shows poll
Separate polls released Wednesday delivered bad news for Gov. Paterson and good news for Mayor Bloomberg.
In Paterson's case, despite being New York's first black governor, his job approval among African Americans remains low, a new poll by Quinnipiac University shows.
Among blacks, 49% disapprove of the way Paterson is handling his job while just 37% approve, the poll found.
Overall, Paterson's numbers remain at historic low, with a 62-28% job disapproval ratings.
Just a third of black voters believe Paterson deserves to be elected next year to a full four-year term, compared to 46% who don't.
Making matters worse, black voters by a 48-26% margin said they would vote for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over Paterson in a potential gubernatorial primary next year.
Overall, Cuomo would defeat Paterson 62-17%.
"When you're own people, whoever they are, are against you, that's pretty bad," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipaic University Polling Institute.
The only time Paterson was favored by blacks was in a hypothetical matchup against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Nearly half of those surveyed said they believe if Paterson decides to run next year, it would be bad for other Democrats on the ticket, compared to just 29% who say it wouldn't be harmful.
Perhaps the only good news is that Paterson's poll numbers seemed to have bottomed out rather than continue their freefall.
Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating, meanwhile, has rebounded to 59% in the latest Marist Poll - up from his 52% rating in February, which was his lowest since June 2005.
Poll director Lee Miringoff attributed Bloomberg's rebound to a number of factors, ranging from those polled feeling more upbeat about the economy to Bloomberg spending several millions of dollars in recent weeks on a blizzard of television and other campaign advertising.
"Fifty-nine percent approval rating is a very good approval rating for how long he's been in office," Miringoff commented as he released the poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
Miringoff said the mayor would win a third term if the election were held now, although when matched against each of three specific Democratic rivals Bloomberg barely edges into the 50 percentiles.
Measured against Brooklyn Rep. Anthony Weiner, who is still mulling whether to become an active candidate again, 50% of the poll's participants chose Bloomberg, who is expected to run on Republican and Independence Party ballot lines, while 36% chose Weiner and 14% said they are undecided.
Against Contoller William Thompson, 51% picked the mayor, 33% Thompson and 16% are undecided. Against longshot Queens Councilman Tony Avella, 52% picked the mayor, 27% Avella and 21% are undecided.
Despite those results, Miringoff said there is a widespread "notion" that Bloomberg is a shoo-in.
Asked if control of the city's schools should remain under the mayor or given to an appointed citywide panel on education policy, 32% said schools should remain under the mayor, 60% given to a citywide panel and 8% are unsure.
Of whether the schools gotten better under Bloomberg, 36% said better, 20% said worse, 33% said stayed about the same and 11% are unusure.
"When it comes to educational policy they don't necessarily think that should be under the mayor," Miringoff said.
