David Paterson Is Screwed

The voters of New York seem to want to set a new record for the number of Governors and Senators they can have in a short period of time. Eliot Spitzer, David Patterson, Hillary Clinton, Caroline Kennedy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Rudy Giuliani, Charles Foster Kane, David Berkowitz ... it seems like all of these people have held at least one of the two offices in the past year.

Well, it looks like by about this time next year you'll have another name to add to that list: Andrew Cuomo. As previously reported here, the New York Attorney General is considering a primary challenge to Governor Paterson, and according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, he will destroy him.

Cuomo attracted 55 percent of likely voters to 23 percent for Paterson. In a general election match-up, Paterson ties former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a possible Republican challenger, at 43 percent apiece, according to Quinnipiac.

New York state voters approve of the job Paterson is doing, 45 percent to 41 percent, his lowest rating since he took over in March after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. Paterson's approval rating was 50 percent in a Jan. 26 poll.

By a margin of 52 percent to 35 percent, voters disapprove of the way Paterson handled the appointment of a U.S. Senator to replace Hillary Clinton, the poll found. Paterson on Jan. 23 named Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Clinton, after weeks of speculation over whether Caroline Kennedy would be given the job.

Those are pretty rough odds: an incumbent trailing by more than 30 percentage points in his own party's primary.

But Paterson shouldn't despair. The way things are going, even if Cuomo wins the governorship, he'll last at most 6 months. Then, Michael Bloomberg will become Governor, and he'll appoint Paterson to fill Senator Chuck Schumer's seat when Schumer is appointed Ambassador to Mars.

See? It'll all work out in the end.