ALBANY – Gov. Spitzer‘s once-sky-high popularity has fallen faster and further than that of any governor in modern state history as a result of his driver’s-licenses-for-illegals plan and the ongoing Dirty Tricks Scandal, according to a devastating new poll released yesterday.
The Siena College Research Institute survey – conducted before the revelation that Spitzer is scrapping the plan – found that New Yorkers, by an overwhelming 64 percent to 33 percent, disapprove of the job the governor is doing, and only 25 percent think he should be re-elected.
In addition, by 70-25 percent voters said they were against Spitzer’s effort to grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
And by almost the same amount, 65-28 percent, voters opposed the governor’s revised three-tier driver’s-license plan, according to the poll.
“Eliot Spitzer’s standing with voters has fallen faster and further than any politician in recent New York history,” said Siena spokesman Steven Greenberg.
“A year ago, Eliot Spitzer won 69 percent of the votes for governor, and in January, 75 percent of voters gave him a favorable rating.
“All that’s changed in a New York minute,” Greenberg continued, adding, “It’s breathtaking and dramatic in terms of his fall.”
Greenberg attributed Spitzer’s enormous unpopularity to massive public opposition to his license plan, as well as concerns over the Dirty Tricks Scandal, in which top aides to the Democratic governor used the State Police in an effort to damage his chief Republican rival, Joseph Bruno.
The poll found that just 41 percent of New Yorkers view Spitzer favorably – compared with 54 percent who had a positive view of the governor a month ago, before the development of widespread opposition to his license plan.
Forty-six percent said they viewed Spitzer negatively, compared with just 36 percent who held that view a month ago.
Spitzer’s job rating was low even among heavily Democratic New York City voters, where just 35 percent viewed him positively compared to and 62 percent who were negatively.
City voters also turned thumbs down on Spitzer when asked if he should be re-elected.
Just 28 percent of city voters said they’d support his re-election while 40 percent said they wanted “someone else” and 32 percent were unsure.
In sharp contrast, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and potential challenger to Spitzer in a party primary, received a record-high approval rating, with 56 percent of voters rating him favorably compared to just and 27 percent who viewed him unfavorably.
Spitzer blamed opposition to his license plan for his poor poll showing, noting, “This is an issue that has touched a nerve in the public and we’re trying to address that in a thoughtful, modulated way, and then we’ll see where we go.”
Additional reporting by David Seifman in NYC