Paterson's Mess Scrambles New York's State of Mind

(March 9) -- He's swimming in scandal and is wildly unpopular, but New York Gov. David Paterson refuses to resign and 68 percent of New Yorkers want him to stay, even though the majority doesn't think he can govern effectively, according to a Marist poll released today.

"Effectively the jury is still out, at least in the realm of public opinion," said Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Paterson isn't the first New York politician to cast the shadow of scandal over the Empire State. Before him was Eliot Spitzer, with his high-class prostitutes and his misuse of state troopers. Spitzer was followed by state Sen. Joseph Bruno, who took millions of dollars from companies in return for political influence. And just last summer, the state Senate fell apart in a dazzling display of dysfunction when two Democratic senators defected to the GOP, throwing the precarious power balance off keel for five weeks until they were convinced to return to their party.

With these events in mind, 54 percent of New Yorkers reported that they are embarrassed to say they are New Yorkers, according to a Siena College poll released Monday. In the middle of the debacle is Paterson, who has the lowest approval ratings of any New York governor in recent history. Right now, only 19 percent approve of the job he is doing, which is up only slightly from his lowest rating, 17 percent, recorded in the fall, according to Marist polls.

"If he isn't rock bottom, he's certainly scraping the bottom," Miringoff said.

Paterson, faced with allegations that he intervened in a domestic abuse case on behalf of an aide and accepted free World Series tickets, is faring worse than any of the past three New York governors. Spitzer's lowest approval rating, reached when he left office, was 30 percent. George Pataki's lowest rating was also 30 percent, and Mario Cuomo bottomed out at 32 percent.

But while they don't approve of him, only 28 percent polled said he should resign. There's more support for his continued tenure than South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford had last summer when he admitted to having an affair with an Argentine woman. At that time, 46 percent said he should resign and 40 percent said he should be impeached, according to the Rasmussen Reports. He neither resigned nor was impeached.

Paterson has more support than Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich had in 2008 when he tried to sell President Barack Obama's Senate seat. Blagojevich tried to hold onto his job, though 84 percent said he should resign. He was ultimately impeached and removed from office by a unanimous vote of the state Senate and is now pursuing a career on the television show "The Celebrity Apprentice."

And, New York's governor has more support than New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey had in 2004 when he resigned after announcing he was gay and that he had had an affair with a man. McGreevey's approval rating went up two points after his announcement, but 44 percent of those polled said he should resign.

So far, Paterson has been heeding the majority's call, refusing to resign and vowing to finish his term, even as three senior officials have called it quits in the wake of the scandal.

The only state that may be giving New York a run for its money right now is, appropriately, Nevada, where Gov. Jim Gibbons is caught between a divorce and allegations that he sexually assaulted a cocktail waitress in a parking garage in 2006. His defense: He hasn't had sex since 1995. Gibbons is running for re-election this year but is trailing in the polls.