Most New Yorkers would like the rest of the country to ignore sex scandals dogging mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner and would-be comptroller Eliot Spitzer.
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York voters, despite their tradition of rooting for comebacks and supporting eccentric candidates, have had it with Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer and their sex scandals.
A Siena College poll released Monday found that 68 percent of state voters and 62 percent of New York City voters are embarrassed by the national attention to the men's candidacies, which have kept late-night TV hosts riffing for weeks.
"They are saying that these candidates and the national attention they are attracting is embarrassing," Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said in an interview. He said the sex scandals of both Spitzer and Weiner go well beyond the brash and colorful candidates New York City voters have long embraced.
"We are talking about America's most infamous tweeter and America's most notorious 'john,'" Greenberg said. "Those are not the eccentricities of candidates that New York City voters usually embrace, like Ed Koch's, 'How am I doing?' and Rudy Giuliani as 'America's mayor.' These guys don't fall into those categories."
Sixteen percent of voters statewide say the attention Weiner and Spitzer is garnering is "no big deal." Just 8 percent find it entertaining.
Weiner is running for mayor and is dogged by a sexting scandal that drove him from Congress. Spitzer seeks a comeback as city comptroller. He resigned as governor in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal.
The survey found that Weiner set a record for a Siena poll, but it's nothing to tweet home about.
Eighty percent of state voters gave him an unfavorable mark, including three-quarters of New York City voters, according to the poll. That 80 percent is the highest unfavorable rating the Siena College poll has registered. It's higher now than when Spitzer resigned as governor and higher than the worst marks for his successor, David Paterson, who nose-dived in the polls while issuing layoffs and cutting programs during a fiscal crisis.
Spitzer isn't doing much better. He is viewed unfavorably by 59 percent of registered voters statewide, including most New York City Democrats. Spitzer hit a 79 percent unfavorable rating shortly after he resigned while he was embroiled in the prostitution scandal.
The telephone poll questioned 814 registered voters in the state from Aug. 4-7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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| Anthony Weiner, dogged by a sexting scandal that drove him from Congress, is running for mayor of New York City. |
A Siena College poll released Monday found that 68 percent of state voters and 62 percent of New York City voters are embarrassed by the national attention to the men's candidacies, which have kept late-night TV hosts riffing for weeks.
"They are saying that these candidates and the national attention they are attracting is embarrassing," Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said in an interview. He said the sex scandals of both Spitzer and Weiner go well beyond the brash and colorful candidates New York City voters have long embraced.
"We are talking about America's most infamous tweeter and America's most notorious 'john,'" Greenberg said. "Those are not the eccentricities of candidates that New York City voters usually embrace, like Ed Koch's, 'How am I doing?' and Rudy Giuliani as 'America's mayor.' These guys don't fall into those categories."
Sixteen percent of voters statewide say the attention Weiner and Spitzer is garnering is "no big deal." Just 8 percent find it entertaining.
Weiner is running for mayor and is dogged by a sexting scandal that drove him from Congress. Spitzer seeks a comeback as city comptroller. He resigned as governor in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal.
The survey found that Weiner set a record for a Siena poll, but it's nothing to tweet home about.
Eighty percent of state voters gave him an unfavorable mark, including three-quarters of New York City voters, according to the poll. That 80 percent is the highest unfavorable rating the Siena College poll has registered. It's higher now than when Spitzer resigned as governor and higher than the worst marks for his successor, David Paterson, who nose-dived in the polls while issuing layoffs and cutting programs during a fiscal crisis.
Spitzer isn't doing much better. He is viewed unfavorably by 59 percent of registered voters statewide, including most New York City Democrats. Spitzer hit a 79 percent unfavorable rating shortly after he resigned while he was embroiled in the prostitution scandal.
The telephone poll questioned 814 registered voters in the state from Aug. 4-7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
