Spitzer Holding on to Wide Lead in Latest Poll; Most Americans Think Bush Will Win the Wiretap War

Okay we've had our fun for the day in the last two posts. Now it's time for some heavy reading.

Since I'll be heading to Montreal tomorrow for a long weekend (doesn't everyone go to Canada for a nice winter weekend getaway?), you'll have threee full days to peruse two new polls. Both are loaded with stuff. I'll hit the highlights and leave the rest to you.

The mood of New York voters is well assessed in the latest Strategic Vision poll.

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's official entry into the Democratic race for governor doesn't seem to have bolstered his support among voters much. New York Democrats questioned in the poll picked Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over Suozzi 73% to 10%.

On the Republican side, former Massachusetts governor William Weld is in the lead at 15%, followed by former Assembly minority leader John Faso (9%), state legislator Pat Manning (4%) and former New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels (3%).

When pitted against each Republican individually, Spitzer trounces them all 60-something to 20-something.

The good news for Suozzi in this poll is, if he should somehow get past Spitzer, he too leads all Republican challengers, but by much smaller margins of between 10% (vs Weld) and 18% (Daniels).

In the race for U.S. Senate, Hillary Clinton leads Republican and former Yonkers mayor John Spencer 63% to 24%.

Although he's not running, the poll indicates former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani would beat Clinton 45% to 41%.

And that brings us to the part of the poll that looks ahead to 2008.

Among voters of all stripes, 64% said they would like to see Giuliani run for president, while 57% said they do NOT want Clinton to run. The nay vote for Gov. George Pataki, also considering a presidential bid, is 51% versus 26% in favor.

Other points of interest in the Strategic Vision poll: President Bush's disapproval rating in New York is 66%; 61% said Roe v. Wade should not be overturned; 78% oppose the Dubai Ports deal; 58% say U.S. troops should be out of Iraq within the next six months; and 80% of New Yorkers think there will be another terrorist attack in the U.S. within the next six months.

*******

Now on to our friends at Quinnipiac University, who released a national poll today.

First things first. President Bush's approval rating in this poll is 36%, compared to 58% who disapprove of the way he's doing his job overall. In the last Qunnipiac poll in December, those numbers were 40% versus 54%.

By 49% to 37%, voters said they hope Congress is controlled by Democrats rather than Republicans after the mid-term elections this fall.

The poll provides an interesting look at the government surveillance issue. By a 76% to 19% margin, American voters say the government should continue to monitor the phone calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists in other countries and people in the U.S. But, by a 55% to 42% margin, those polled said the government should be required to get a court order first. As you know the president says he has the right to do the surveillance without a warrant while much of Congress disagrees. While the voters in this poll seem to side with Congress, most of them think Bush will win the battle over wiretapping. By a 56% to 33% margin, those polled said they believe Bush will win this fight.

Those are the highlights. There's plenty more in both polls. I urge you to take a look.