New York Still Ranks As Most Flippable in '06; Bush Approval at 40%

New York remains No. 1 on one list of the top-ten most-flippable governor's races.

Each week the Washington Post's political blog The Fix looks at races that are ripe for a change from one party to the other. This week, for the first time in about a month, the blog looks at governor races nationwide and lists New York as the most-likely state to see a new party in control after the fall elections. The same ranking as in January.

With Republican George Pataki retiring, Tom Golisano deciding not to run and with no other GOP candidate making much noise, The Fix sees the Empire State going to Democrat Eliot Spitzer, who will be challenged for the Democratic nod by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.

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Speaking of county executives with possible statewide ambitions, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef confirmed for The Journal News in today's editions that GOP officials are feeling him out about a possible run for state comptroller against Democratic incumbent Alan Hevesi. The article leaves one with the impression that Vanderhoef is considering a run but not yet wild about the idea.

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Taking a step across the border for a bit, Connecticut's Joe Lieberman seems to be looking pretty good in his bid to keep his Senate seat, despite howls from the left end of his party about the senator's stance on the war. In a hypotehtical race pitting Lieberman against former governor Lowell Weicker, who could run as an inpedependent, a recent Rasmussen poll puts Sen. Joe Mentum ** up by 21 points, with a third candidate named "Republican" finishing a distant third.

**nickname given to Lieberman in 2004 when, despite finishing near the bottom of the pack in virtually every presidential primary, the intrepid senator continued to battle - saying he had "Jomentum."

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President Bush's image appears to still be suffering most from the government's handling of Hurricane Katrina. In the the latest WNBC/Marist national politics poll, released today, Bush's approval rating among registered voters nationwide stands at 40%. In the poll 66% of registered voters of all stripes said they were "bothered a great deal or a good amount" by the Katrina response. That's the largest negative for the president in the poll, which asks voters' opinions on a number of challenges being faced by the administration.

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FRIDAY RANT: This is the freebie I'm going to allow myself. My once-a-week chance to get something off my chest, even if it has nothing to do with politics.

Time for the bosses at USA Network to call someone on the carpet for a really dumb move today. The U.S women's curling team, which seemed hopelessly behind the Russians for much of today's match, had a remarkable three-point shot with the final rock of the game, tying the Russians and sending the match into an extra end (or inning). USA cuts to commercial and I sit back in anticpation of the extra frame. USA comes back from commercial, I look up, and I see hockey on my screen. How can you run an event for two hours, showing virtually every throw of the contest, then cut people off when the game is being decided? Unlike USA Network, I won't keep you hanging. The U.S. lost 8-7 in 11 ends.