The new Marist poll has some truly horrible news for David Paterson, saying that he could lose both primary and general elections in landslides.
In a primary against Andrew Cuomo, Paterson is behind by an amazing 62%-26% margin. In a general election match-up with Rudy Giuliani, Paterson gets crushed by 53%-38%, while Cuomo beats Rudy by 56%-39%.
The poll is a whole lot better for newly-appointed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, though it’s not great. Gillibrand edges former GOP Governor George Pataki 45%-41%, and is ahead of GOP Congressman Peter King 49%-28%. In a Democratic primary, Gillibrand is in a near-tie with pro-gun-control Congressman Carolyn McCarthy, with 36% for Gillibrand and 33% for McCarthy.
Here’s a sign of just how awful Paterson’s ratings are: His approval numbers are worse than Eliot Spitzer’s were, when he was in the middle of the prostitution scandal that forced his resignation. Just before he resigned, Spitzer had a 30% excellent/good rating and 64% fair/poor in the Marist poll. By comparison, Paterson is at only 26%-71%.
Another person to feel sorry for here is former Congressman Rick Lazio (R), who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Senate in 2000 — he actually manages to trail Paterson in a possible gubernatorial match-up by a 47%-35% margin.