The results of this poll surprised me quite a bit:
Michael Bloomberg is not only a better mayor of New York than Rudy Giuliani - he'd make a better President, too.
That's the result of a Daily News poll released today that asked the voters who know best - New Yorkers - which man belongs in the White House.City voters overwhelmingly chose Mayor Mike over America's Mayor as their pick for President, 46% to 29%.
"I feel in my heart Bloomberg is a better man," said Jaen Garcia, 53, of Highbridge, the Bronx.
Bloomberg insists he's not running for President, even though he has dropped more than a few tantalizing clues, including traveling around the country, pushing national policy changes and reviving his Web site.
If he decided to enter the race - most likely as an independent - Bloomberg and his billions could cast a huge shadow.
But whether he's willing to take on GOP front-runner Giuliani remains to be seen. Giuliani enjoys a national reputation as the man who cleaned up New York and held the country together in the devastating weeks and months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Here at home, though, it's a different story, The News' survey shows.
Some 56% of voters said Bloomberg has been as the more effective mayor, and 29% picked Giuliani. An additional 10% ranked them about the same, and 5% didn't know.
"I like that everything Bloomberg said he is going to do for the city, he did. There are more charter schools and I like that," said Sharran Roberts, a 30-year-old mother from Bushwick, Brooklyn.
"[Giuliani] did over his wife, he did over [New Yorkers] and he is not going to do it with the country," Roberts said.
Blum & Weprin Associates surveyed 503 registered voters in a Bloomberg-Giuliani showdown and the 2009 mayoral race for The News. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
In the poll, Bloomberg trounces Giuliani among every demographic group as a better mayor and potential President except Republicans and voters under age 30.
"I'd vote for them as a presidential team, but egos get in the way," said Dan Ricciardi, a 54-year-old doctor from Brooklyn Heights. "[Bloomberg] is more of an elitist, but he is an excellent mayor."
I don't know the details of the internals for this poll, so I don't know how the questions were posed; nonetheless, the numbers are surprising. It's important to keep in mind, though, that it's been a long time since Rudy first took office, so the memories of how crime infested New York City was before Rudy became mayor have completely faded, just like the memories of 9/11, when New Yorkers depended on Rudy to get them through that nightmare.
The question is: how will this poll affect Rudy's bid for the Republican primary?
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Comments (12)
I'm not trying to be a jerk... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Paul | May 14, 2007 6:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I'm not trying to be a jerk. (It comes natural ;-) But why are people still talking about Rudy?
He's not getting the R nomination and he's not running as a Indy or a Dem so that leaves him a loser.
Can we go on to someone really in the race?
1. Posted by Paul | May 14, 2007 6:16 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 18:16
2. Posted by Kim Priestap | May 14, 2007 6:20 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
You may be right Paul, but as of right now, Rudy is still one of the front runners, so I thought it was a relevant article to discuss. We'll see how Rudy does in the future.
2. Posted by Kim Priestap | May 14, 2007 6:20 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 18:20
3. Posted by John S | May 14, 2007 6:52 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Rudy is the front runner, some 20 points ahead of the Democrat McCain. What NYC thinks about Rudy is BS. Hillary will take the city by 80% or 90% of the vote and the city will suffer the nuclear consequences.
3. Posted by John S | May 14, 2007 6:52 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 18:52
4. Posted by Brian | May 14, 2007 7:17 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I'm not sure what Bloomberg's position is on Iraq, but New Yorkers have long wanted the US out of Iraq. So it's not at all surprising that Rudy has fallen out of favor.
4. Posted by Brian | May 14, 2007 7:17 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 19:17
5. Posted by jim | May 14, 2007 8:15 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not surprising to me. I was in NY under Caesar Giulianus. New Yorkers got to see him up close and day to day, and 8 years was way too much of him...
5. Posted by jim | May 14, 2007 8:15 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 20:15
6. Posted by lowmal | May 14, 2007 8:34 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Considering the Daily News has a total circulation of about 37 readers, I wouldn't put too much stock in this..
6. Posted by lowmal | May 14, 2007 8:34 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 20:34
7. Posted by kim | May 14, 2007 8:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
More charter schools in New York? What's behind the Green Dot? Giuliani was an out of control prosecutor.
===========================
7. Posted by kim | May 14, 2007 8:36 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 20:36
8. Posted by LenS | May 14, 2007 10:25 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The Daily News has a circulation of 693,000. It's still showing some life as it battles the Post. Interestingly, the NY Times is probably in 3rd place now within the City of New York itself.
Regarding Giuliani, he made the hard choices that NY Mayors had avoided for decades. Bloomberg gets the benefit of that without having to make the hard decisions. New Yorkers can now conveniently pretend that the ogre Rudy really didn't do anything remarkable and that it was all coincidence. God help them once Bloomberg leaves -- he at least has enough sense to not change most of Giuliani's decisions. But what ever Dem follows him will cheerfully revert to the policies that failed for decades.
8. Posted by LenS | May 14, 2007 10:25 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 14, 2007 22:25
9. Posted by Mister Tan | May 15, 2007 8:15 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not surprising at all.
Despite having elected Republican mayors, NYC is deep blue country. That says more to the quality of the Democratic candidates than anything else. Regardless, Bloomberg is decidedly more liberal than Giuliani, and given a choice between the two, it's an easy call for most. What I'd like to see is a similar poll of NYC residents' views of Giuliani versus the rest of the current Republican field. His socially liberal leanings would be an advantage rather than the detriment it is elsewhere.
By the way, as far as slant goes, the Daily News is the poor man's NYT. Again, no surprise that they'd take an opportunity to put in a dig on him.
9. Posted by Mister Tan | May 15, 2007 8:15 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 15, 2007 08:15
10. Posted by pennywit | May 15, 2007 10:46 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The other thing to keep in mind here is that different times call for different kinds of leaders. I expect that Giuliani, at least for a while, was the mayor New York needed. At another time, he was not.
And perhaps now, Bloomberg is the sort of mayor New York needs ... and later he will not be.
--|PW|--
10. Posted by pennywit | May 15, 2007 10:46 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 15, 2007 10:46
11. Posted by jim | May 15, 2007 12:06 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Also, referring to the Daily News as "still hanging on" vs. The Post is a bit inaccurate. The Daily News is competing well, as it's still making a profit. The Post has been losing unknown amounts of money, perhaps in the millions, every year for years. It's basically maintained by Rupert Murdoch at a loss so he still has a wholly-owned print voice in NYC.
http://archives.cjr.org/year/99/2/tabwars.asp
Murdoch also owned the very liberal Village Voice for a brief amount of time, irony of ironies...
11. Posted by jim | May 15, 2007 12:06 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 15, 2007 12:06
12. Posted by Kevin | June 19, 2007 6:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The fact that people like the one I quote below have the vote goes to the heart of what's wrong with America. People like this would take pleasure in NYC burning. John S., you are sick and a cancer on the nation.
"Rudy is the front runner, some 20 points ahead of the Democrat McCain. What NYC thinks about Rudy is BS. Hillary will take the city by 80% or 90% of the vote and the city will suffer the nuclear consequences.
Posted by: John S"
12. Posted by Kevin | June 19, 2007 6:21 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on June 19, 2007 18:21