Poll: Voters split on Cuomo as 'Mr. Fix-it'

 NEWSDAY

 One thing is for sure, you can't bs new yorkers.....they know what lies ahead for Andrew....the mindset and dysfunctional traditions have to be overcome in order for change to take place.......

Originally published: December 8, 2010 8:14 AM
Updated: December 8, 2010 8:05 PM
By JAMES T. MADORE  james.madore@newsday.com

Photo credit: AP Photo/Mike Groll | New York Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo talks to reporters after meeting with Assembly Democrats in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

ALBANY - Voters are split over whether Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo can fix a state government that nearly 90 percent called "broken" in a poll released Wednesday.
The Quinnipiac University Poll found 45 percent of registered voters said Cuomo would successfully address the dysfunction and gridlock in the Capitol while 42 percent forecast failure.
Democrats were more optimistic, Republicans more pessimistic, and independents were divided down the middle.

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Some of the concern appears to be rooted in voters' low opinion of the State Legislature.
Fifty-seven percent said lawmakers would not cooperate with Cuomo's drive to overhaul government. Thirty-three percent said lawmakers would embrace Cuomo's plans.
More than 60 percent of both Republicans and independents surveyed forecast no cooperation, while Democrats were split.
"Most New Yorkers are generally optimistic that [Cuomo] will do a good job overall," pollster Maurice Carroll said. "But will he be an effective Mr. Fix-it? Ask the question that way, and voters are split."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) was seen by nearly 60 percent of voters as unwilling to help Cuomo implement governmental changes; even 45 percent of Democrats said as much.
Silver was again elected head of the Assembly's Democratic majority last week and is expected to win the speakership in January.
Silver, through a spokeswoman, said he was "committed to working with the governor-elect to address New York's fiscal crisis, reform state government and get our economy back on track."
Voters weren't asked about other legislative leaders, most notably state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who is expected to become majority leader next month.
With a State Supreme Court judge certifying the election of Republican senatorial candidate Jack Martins of Mineola last weekend, the GOP was poised to retake control of the Senate.
Thirty-five percent of voters want Republicans in charge of the upper chamber, 46 percent want the Democrats, and 19 percent had no opinion.
Republicans did best on Long Island and in other New York City suburbs and upstate while city residents favored Democrats.