Quinnipiac: Cuomo vs. Paladino 49-43

Oh snap! Quinnipiac says Crazy Carl is within spitting distance from Andrew Cuomo!

Republican Carl Paladino, aided by a 4 -1 margin among Tea Partiers, trails New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for Governor, 49 - 43 percent among likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Only 18 percent of New York State likely voters consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement, but they back Paladino 77 - 18 percent.

Cuomo leads 87 - 8 percent among Democrats while Paladino leads 83 - 13 percent among Republicans and 49 - 43 percent among independent voters, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey, conducted by live interviewers, finds. This first likely voter general election survey in New York in this election cycle cannot be compared with earlier surveys of registered voters.  [MORE] I really should not be surprised with this result.  New Yorkers have grown very tired of business as usual in New York. Unfortunately, Andrew Cuomo could not be a better example of business as usual. From his family name to his lengthy history in NY politics, Cuomo is the establishment and the establishment is not what voters are looking for this year.  Quinnipiac:  When asked which quality matters most in picking a candidate for governor, 41 percent of New York State likely voters want a candidate who "can bring about needed change to Albany." Another 22 percent want someone who shares their values, while 21 percent want someone honest and trustworthy and 10 percent want someone with the right experience.   Cuomo is going to have to do two things in order to win, first, which may be mission impossible, he has to portray himself as fresh, new and outside the establishment.  This will be no easy feat, considering how well known he is to New Yorkers. The thing he has to do is define Paladino before Paladino defines himself.  Quinnipiac makes clear that most New Yorkers don’t really know who Carl Paladino is.  Paladino gets a 36 - 31 percent favorability and 31 percent of voters don't know enough about him to form an opinion.   For Paladino, it is crucial that he defines himself early before Cuomo or the New York media does it for him.  Paladino, just like Christine O’Donnell, have a plethora of past statements and actions that the opposition can make great hay over. Paladino may have already realized this and perhaps that is why he is launching such harsh broadsides against Cuomo (and they seem to be working). Also like O’Donnell, Paladino’s greatest strength is that he has clean hands when it comes to the current mess in NY, thus making him far more credible than Cuomo when he says he will change NY politics. I am glad I no longer live in New York.  Picking a candidate in this election would be very difficult.  I have no faith that Rick Lazio could ever effectively deal with the sharks in Albany.  Andrew Cuomo, despite what he says, is just more of the same failed tax and spend policies that Democrats have been offering New Yorkers for years.  Finally, Carl Paladino seems like a great leap into the unknown.  I certainly do not envy New York voters this year. Via: Memeorandum Via: Quinnipiac Via: Associated Content Via: Mediaite Via: New York Daily News