Get ready to see a “new” player to the national scene. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has the highest governor’s approval rating of any governor in any states polled by the respected Quinnipiac poll:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a 64 – 16 percent job approval rating among registered voters, higher than the governors in any state polled by Quinnipiac University so far this year.
The next highest governor is New Jersey’s Christopher Christie, with a 52 – 40 percent approval rating in a February 9 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Governors in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio all had approval ratings below 50 percent, but these governors all are involved in unresolved state budget battles.
Cuomo’s numbers are up — even among GOPers:
Today’s results are up from a 56 – 15 percent Cuomo approval February 23.
In today’s survey, even Republicans approve of Gov. Cuomo 58 – 18 percent.
New York State voters approve 47 – 31 percent of the new state budget and 31 percent say Cuomo is most responsible for the budget agreement. Another 8 percent say the legislature is most responsible while 57 percent say Cuomo and the legislature are equally responsible.
Cuomo won his first state budget battle on the merits, 47 percent of voters say, while 25 percent say he used intimidation and 8 percent say he used charm……
Comments from Quinnipiac’s poll director:
“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Super-Andrew! Gov. Andrew Cuomo comes out of the budget vote – usually a punishing time for politicians – with impressive job-approval numbers,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie may be getting the national attention, but the guy next door is doing better with home state voters. We’ll see how Christie does as he wages the budget battle of Trenton.”
“While Cuomo and Christie both have a reputation as hard-chargers, New Yorkers think their guy won his budget battle mostly on the merits,” Carroll added. “Some voters cite intimidation, possibly because of Cuomo’s threat to force reform through a series of short-term budget extensions, and a few even credit charm. Whatever; it worked.”
When someone stands out like this it increases their national voice…brings more press coverage…basically increases their national clout. Will Andrew Cuomo one day go for the political gold that his father agonized over so long that the gold vanished, grabbed away by others?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.