Survey: Mayor Couldn’t Win Presidential Race
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Mayor Bloomberg would lose the presidential vote in key states and even in New York City were he to run, according to a SurveyUSA poll commissioned by WABC. Despite his strong approval ratings in the city — currently 73% according to Quinnipiac University — Mr. Bloomberg would be able to claim, in his best scenario, 28% of the vote in a three-way race between Senator Obama and Michael Huckabee, losing easily to Mr. Obama. He fares even worse in other hypothetical match-ups, securing only 18% of the vote against fellow New Yorkers, Senator Clinton and Mayor Giuliani, and 21% against Ms. Clinton and Senator McCain.
Mr. Bloomberg faces hurdles in key states as well, maxing out at 16% of the vote in neighboring Pennsylvania, according to the poll. In California, which has more electoral votes than any other state and would likely be critical to a presidential victory, he does no better than 12%. The survey finds that one in four national voters do not know who Mr. Bloomberg is, and that only 11% have a favorable impression. No more than 13% say they would vote for him in a presidential election.
