Quinnipiac released a new poll [1] today, showing governor Spitzer regaining 12% in approval, to a 60% approve, 22% disapprove split.
"Gov. Spitzer got his mojo back, regaining some of his approval rating, which tanked during budget negotiations," said Maurice Carroll, Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "But there's not much enthusiasm for the governor's self-described role as some kind of 'steamroller.' Voters aren't sure whether he is or isn't but most think it's less likely to be an effective tactic than to tie up the Legislature."
So how is the legislature doing?
Voters give legislative leaders very low marks, a negative 29 - 33 percent approval for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and a negative 26 - 34 percent for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. The State Legislature gets a negative 31 - 49 percent score.
Considering that Bruno, Silver, and the bodies they preside over, are roughly as or less popular than George Bush, perhaps it's time for the legislature - once again, 31% approve, 49% disapprove - to evaluate how it does business. When half the state's population disapproves of the job you're doing, something is wrong. As far as Bruno and Silver are concerned, they might well point to the fact that their respective approval numbers are at least in the same neighborhood as their disapprovals, true enough; but here's the thing: considering that a plurality of voters doesn't know enough of what they are doing to have an opinion, whichever way you slice it, they're doing something wrong. A state in which over a third of voters can't muster an opinion on the permanent chieftains of its legislature suffers from a democracy deficit, one would think.
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