Democrats Want a Different Governor
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A year after Democrats in New York anointed Governor Spitzer as their undisputed king, party members may be losing faith in him.
For the first time since he took office, a plurality of Democratic voters say they want someone other than Mr. Spitzer to be elected governor, according to a poll released yesterday.
A Siena College poll found that 42% of Democrats would prefer to elect a different governor, while 34% said they would stick with Mr. Spitzer for a second term.
Together with figures showing Mr. Spitzer’s overall popularity among registered voters dropping to a new low, the apparent loss of Democratic support suggests that the negative impact of Mr. Spitzer’s most contentious political and policy battles is more widespread than previously believed.
The poll results suggest that Mr. Spitzer’s political attacks on the Senate leader, Joseph Bruno, and his failed attempt to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants have left a negative impression in the minds of both Democrats and Republicans.
While the next election is three years away, the growing disenchantment with Mr. Spitzer among Democratic voters brings a competitive primary race closer to the realm of possibility.
“In a space of a year, he went from a two- to three-term governor and possibly the first Jewish president to: ‘Is he dead? Is he going to quit? Is he a one-term lame duck?'” a professor of political science at Baruch College in Manhattan, Douglas Muzzio, said. “He’s scarred, but he’s not permanently disabled.”
The poll, which surveyed 625 registered voters, found that 51% view the governor negatively, while only 36% have a favorable opinion.
When Mr. Spitzer first took office, 75% of voters have a positive impression of him, and only 10% had a negative opinion.
The further erosion of Mr. Spitzer’s popularity is a particularly painful disappointment for an administration that has tried to regroup from its first-year woes, which have been the subject of two lengthy national magazine articles this month.
As part of his effort to get back on track, the governor reshuffled personnel, sought to make amends with lawmakers, and moved to keep the base subway fare at $2.
The poll was conducted December 3–6 — before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that it was increasing the fares of subway unlimited ride MetroCard passes and shrinking the bonus amounts of pay-per-ride cards, making it more expensive to use the subway for an estimated 86% of riders.
Many politicians, including the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, questioned the need for the fare hike, which was endorsed by Mr. Spitzer.
Seventy percent of voters have a fair or poor opinion of Mr. Spitzer’s job performance, up from 64% a month ago, the poll said. Only 3% think the governor is doing an “excellent” job.
Regionally, Mr. Spitzer is least popular among upstate voters, 62% of whom rate him unfavorably, the poll found.
Administration officials yesterday that Mr. Spitzer was not fazed by the shrinking support, reiterating their assertion that he doesn’t govern based on public opinion.
“The governor has always been clear that his leadership decisions are unaffected by poll numbers, and the same remains true today,” a spokesman for the governor, Errol Cockfield, said.
Officials also pointed to the rocky starts of other prominent politicians, including governors Schwarzenegger and Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, and President Clinton, all of whom had job performance rating percentages in the 30s or lower during their first terms.
In his first term, Mr. Bloomberg saw his poll numbers plummet after he raised property taxes by 18%, temporarily increased city income and sales taxes, and banned smoking at bars. In 1995, Mr. Pataki’s popularity fell after he angered a variety of interest groups with a budget that cut spending.
“I think these situations are really quite different, certainly with Bloomberg,” Mr. Muzzio said. “You don’t have the self-destructive qualities of the Spitzer administration. He picks fights with people that he loses.”
On many issues, Mr. Spitzer’s position fits squarely with Democratic mainstream opinion. As governor, he has sought to broaden abortion rights, draft a plan for universal health care coverage, and legalize gay marriage.
From both sides of the aisle, Mr. Spitzer has been hit with criticism not primarily for his policies, but for what some say are problems related to questions of judgment and temperament.
Political analysts note that the biggest of Mr. Spitzer’s perceived mistakes — his failed attempt to pin ethical charges on Mr. Bruno and his aborted plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants — were ill-conceived efforts to score political points.
The political maneuverings and flare-ups have turned off Democrats who would otherwise be cheering him on, a Democratic consultant, Henry Sheinkopf, said.
“He’s got to solve the disconnect,” he said. “The Democrats are not engaged here.”