New York State of Mind Still Not Republican
Despite being down on current leadership, NY voters still seem to prefer finding a new set of Democrats to the GOP field.
It’s apparently a New York state of mind, but even Billy Joel wouldn’t want to take credit for it at this point. In many ways, the Empire State is currently a perfect microcosm of the nation’s political mood. Democrats in 2008, having already secured the governor’s mansion, not only improved their majority position in the state assembly but finished the hat trick by seizing control of the senate for the first time in the living memory of many voters.
And in another mirror of the national pulse, after less than a year of this hopeful change, the natives have shot straight past restless and into full-blown panic.
Siena Research Institute this week concluded one of their deepest polls into the attitudes and preferences of New Yorkers this year. The crosstabs brought forth some results which should send many a public servant looking for work in the private sector.
Fifty-seven percent told Siena that the state was “on the wrong track,” 90 percent described the state’s fiscal condition as either “fair” or “poor,” and either solid majorities or strong pluralities felt that their political leaders had less integrity and were less fair than those of decades past. In one of the least reported but possibly most alarming statistics, 41 percent indicated that they would like to move out of the state, either in the near future or for their retirement.
In a climate such as this, one might suppose that a slate of GOP candidates would be standing ready for 2010, each with a single television buy which simply says: “So … how’s that Democratic majority working out for ya?” But with New York being New York, things are never quite that simple.
With Governor David Paterson’s approval ratings in the low 30s and only 15 percent saying they would choose him in 2010, the voters still don’t seem to feel they put the wrong party in power — they simply have the wrong Democrat. Seventy percent hold a favorable opinion of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of former Governor Mario. He swamps the two most frequently mentioned potential Republican contenders — Rick Lazio and Chris Collins — by fifty points each. (Lazio, my personal favorite, continues to hold the title of “best GOP candidate you’ve never heard of,” with 21 percent approving of him, 22 percent disapproving, and 57 percent saying they either didn’t know who he was or didn’t know enough to form an opinion.)
Not all of the news was grim for Republicans, though. When you bring “America’s mayor” Rudy Giuliani into the picture, the numbers soften up a bit. He still currently loses to Cuomo in a hypothetical, head-to-head match-up, but the gap narrows to 13 percent. Will Rudy run? Newsday is reporting that he’s “mulling the idea over” and he’s made some very patriotic statements about being willing to serve if the needs of New York demand it, but the article also reminds us that Rudy loves grabbing headlines to boost his own private business endeavors. Plus, every publisher in the Big Apple keeps a boilerplate article on hand at all times about Giuliani running for this or that office. He loves to tease us, but there’s simply no telling what he will do.
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Jazz Shaw is a heretical, Northeastern former RINO and regular columnist at The Moderate Voice. He can be reached at jazzshaw@gmail.com.
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18 Comments
1. David Thomson:The state of New York is royally screwed. Its citizens are mostly crazier than bedbugs. Their local and state governments are financially destitute. The economy outside of New York City has sucked for decades. These fools also have nobody to blame but themselves. The hell with them. I live in Texas and we have the moral and rational right to look down our noses on these fools. Regrettably, some of these New Yorkers, Californians, and other blue state whack jobs, will try and escape to Texas. We then will have to worry about them polluting our state with their left wing, spendthrift politics. We should not feel any pity for these persistent Democratic Party and “moderate” Republican voters. They have made their own bed—and must now sleep in it.
Aug 29, 2009 - 2:22 am 2. RE:The GOP is pretty much AWOL. We see no leadership or principled stances out of them. They must be expecting to ride in on the coattails of the grassroots revolt against Obama/Pelosi/Reid and somehow score big by being wallflowers. That’s pretty weak, pathetic, and spineless. It’s certainly no way to win back my support.
The Constitution is right there. All they have to do is stand up and defend it!
How pathetic that they shuffle their feet and cower.
Wimps!
Aug 29, 2009 - 2:27 am 3. Frank Logan:“Stupid is as stupid does.” -Forrest Gump
Aug 29, 2009 - 5:47 am 4. Dave M.:Republicans in NY are pretty much like Virginia Democrats except they abhor the Second Amendment. So, you have a choice between the left and the far left. Both parties are statists, one just gets you there faster than the other.
Please New Yorkers stay in New York and enjoy the utopian, workers’ paradise you have created. The rest of the country is not good enough for you, save for the excepton of Massachusetts or California.
Aug 29, 2009 - 6:38 am 5. Flintlock:Is Rudy really the BEST the GOP can do?
Aug 29, 2009 - 7:06 am 6. syn:When the electorate had the chance to vote for a sorta-conservative (Pataki I, as opposed to Pataki II, and III) they went for it.
Just when do we get a chance to vote for something other than LeftistCrazy vs. LeftistCrazy Lite? (No, pro-abortion, anti-gun, big-Gov’t spendthrift is NOT the way of the GOP!)
I live in NYC however I am leaving and taking my Conservative values plus my tax dollars with me when I flee this miserable Serfdom.
I’m looking to knowing Jon Stewart will be paying more in taxes to replace the revenue void taxpayers like me and Rush Limbaugh are leaving behind.
All that will be left for the silly NYers remaining behind is to dwell in their internet kiddie porn Jon Stewart has shoved up his anal cavity.
Aug 29, 2009 - 7:26 am 7. Kazooskibum:The Democrat Party is a criminal enterprise.
Aug 29, 2009 - 8:12 am 8. Cat:I live just outside NYC, but work in the city. People I work with constantly complain about the cost of living here, but they don’t complain about taxes. I always wonder about that, considering we pay more than some other states, especially those with no income tax.
I love this city, but the liberal politics drive me nuts. We had a work party this week, and the heads of my company were bashing the people of PA, saying that they really do cling to their guns and religion. Well, I’m at the bottom of the ladder and am from PA, but I made sure to speak out enough to let them know to shut up. Some of the narrowest minds really are the minds of liberals.
Aug 29, 2009 - 8:43 am 9. ETAB:David Thomson – I always specifically look for your posts. I appreciate your adherence to facts and the logic of your analysis. How about starting your own blog where we can see more of both?
Cat – leftism is, itself, a religion. It is based on opinions resting in faith rather than facts.
There are several problems with this. First, a political, economic and societal analysis has to be based on facts not faith. Second, socialism is an elitist structure;it sets up an elite of Guardian Rulers, those who deem themselves the Smart and Powerful (limousine liberals)..versus the unwashed masses. There’s no room for a middle class in Socialism. That’s why NY is in a mess; it has ignored reality – and that important requirement for a middle class, free and individualistic.
Another key problem with the socialist ideology is that it is a tribal religion, which means that you are sub-human if you are not an ‘inherent’ or faith-based member of the tribe. Dissent is not allowed within the tribe; any who dissent are Others, Outsiders, and, of course, sub-human.
Christianity, by the way, is not tribal but emerged as a rejection of the isolationism of tribalism. Its mantra of ‘love thy neighbour’ speaks against tribal dehumanization of Others.
Aug 29, 2009 - 9:20 am 10. Jason S:Wait until gas prices go up next summer. All republicans have to do is be ready with the common sense solutions that most Americans want, and then FOLLOW THROUGH.
Energy will be a huge issue going into late summer next year, mark my words. “Green jobs” is nothing but code for government bloatation, because the real jobs don’t come until the technology is there to start producing. Where are all the jobs? They are lost in mountains of environmental regulations, most of which revolve around te lie that humans can control earth’s temperature.
If Americans want real reform, we should start with stepping back and taking a fresh look at the burden these regulations have been on our economy and an honest cost-benefit analysis by someone other than the IPCC, which hase every reason to propagate an alarmist perspective.
Americans now trust republicans more on virtually every issue, including healthcare:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/trust_on_issues
It’s time to take advantage of it with concrete alternatives to unicorn oil, wings and prayers, knocking on wood, and crossed fingers.
- jobs; highlite huge gaps between empty promises and actual practice
Aug 29, 2009 - 12:12 pm 11. Sammy Benoit:- more domestic energy production; I’ve always wondered why oil drilled half way round the world and shipped across an ocean is more environmentally friendly.
- deficit control; making real “tough choices”, like cutting government bloat at a rate commensurate with job losses in the private sector, and not taking easy short term gains that create long term pain for our posterity.
- audit the fed
- ensure real competition in health insurance by allowing interstate policies; cut costs through competition and tort reform. Assess anti-trust laws to make sure they are having the intended effect in health insurance.
- To me the biggest would be education. One of Obama’s first acts in office was to repay the teachers unions by killing the DC voucher program. It was proven to work for the kids, but worked against the union bosses. Sorry kids, the Harvard grads running Washington need you to be dumb and poor to stay in power. Better luck to the next generation of you.
Jazz I think its time to move out of NY State
Aug 29, 2009 - 3:04 pm 12. AtheistConservative:Ideology over practicality – the reason Obama won, too.
Giuliani was the best thing to happen to that state. He cleaned it up and made it a place you could actually live. After his changes, murders in Central Park were so rare that they made front-page news.
But oh noes he has an (R) after his name. Can’t vote for that, it would be like spitting on Woodstock. Better vote for the idiots who are driving the entire country into the ground.
Aug 29, 2009 - 3:12 pm 13. texexpatriate:This guy who calls himself Jazz Shaw strikes me as someone who has lived too long in the northeast. Northeast people don’t even know what American is all about, and neither does this author.
Aug 29, 2009 - 4:25 pm 14. Phil Byler:If Ed Cox becomes the new New York State GOP Chair, then there is reason to believe that the New York Republican Party will get its act together and provide an alternative to the Democrats that New Yorkers will support.
Aug 29, 2009 - 4:49 pm 15. Ole Sarge:I just hope they enjoy their next 9/11, compliments of their leftist ideas and those they support such as their governor, obama and so on. I don’t think they can work much harder then that get their terrorist friends to bomb them once more.
I won’t shed a tear after the next attack and I certainly won’t be fighting for their freedom that they have thrown in the trash and stomped on.
Do hope they stay out of Texas, we have our own collection of looney toon characters and don’t need any more.
Aug 29, 2009 - 8:16 pm 16. deguello:15 OLE SARGE:New York is hopeless and hapless. Mired in Libtardism, with a declining economy being killed of by taxes,it’s a moribund state;Cuba on the Hudson.I think it should be put under the joint management of Disney and PUSH,walled off(to prevent its affluent libtard tax base from escaping)and renamed, WELFARE WORLD:A libtard dependency theme park.Oh, and all the Gitmo inmates should be released there to serve as tour guides.
Aug 31, 2009 - 10:20 am 17. Joe in NY:What most people don’t realize is that there are really two New Yorks. Downstate, including NYC, the suburbs and Long Island, is heavily liberal and dominant in politics. Upstate, which comprises a good 90% of the land mass of the state but less than half the population, is much more balanced and even leans toward the conservative side of the political spectrum in most areas.
Sadly, there is not much that we upstaters can do to change the political spectrum in our state. The good news is that upstate New York wasn’t hit hard by the global recession. Due to the downstate focus of state politics, upstate New York has been in a prolonged recession for decades.
Right now my work and family situation is decent enough to keep me where I am. But it wouldn’t take much for me to start looking for work out of state. Don’t worry, as much as I agree with Texas politics, I don’t think I could take the heat. Besides, it wouldn’t be Christmas without three feet of snow on the ground.
Aug 31, 2009 - 10:24 am 18. Toronto Girl:I visit New York several times a year and it seems to me the majority of the people I see are either black or hispanic. Don’t they usually vote Democrat?
Aug 31, 2009 - 1:54 pm