ALBANY – Scrapping his controversial plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens did nothing to stem Gov. Spitzer‘s popularity free fall, a new poll shows.
For the first time, a majority of New Yorkers views Spitzer unfavorably, with 51 percent having a negative opinion and just 36 percent viewing him favorably, according to a Siena College poll released yesterday.
It’s a continuing plunge from last month, when 46 percent viewed him unfavorably and 41 percent saw him favorably.
The latest numbers are also a remarkable drop from a June Siena poll, in which 64 percent viewed him favorably and only 22 percent unfavorably.
“Voters are continuing to lose faith in their governor,” said Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg.
Spitzer’s job-performance rating is even worse, with 70 percent saying the governor is doing a fair or poor job, and just 27 percent believing he is doing an excellent or good job.
In fact, 61 percent of Democrats view his job performance negatively, and more people, 29 percent, gave him a poor rating than an excellent or good rating combined.
And 56 percent of voters, including a plurality of Democrats, said they would prefer “someone else” over re-electing Spitzer, according to the poll, which surveyed 625 registered voters by phone between Dec. 3 and Dec. 6.
Spitzer, whose campaign mantra was that on “Day One, everything changes,” has for months been dealing with multiple investigations involving top aides who sicced the State Police on his chief political rival, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
And in September, he created a furor that played out nationally when he proposed a plan that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
Under heavy pressure – and after the plan started hurting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign – Spitzer last month reluctantly pulled the plug on the proposal.
“He’s dug himself a deep hole and so far has not been able to find a ladder,” Greenberg said.
Spitzer spokesman Errol Cockfield dismissed the survey, saying, “The governor has always been clear that his leadership decisions are unaffected by polls. The same is true today.”