by Mark Silva
An overwhelming majority of New York voters say that Gov. Eliot Spitzer, ensnared in a prostitution ring, should resign.
Seventy percent of registered voters surveyed by the Marist College poll say Spitzer should resign from office after it was revealed that he was a customer of a high-priced prostitution ring.
Only 22 percent think he should not have to resign from office, and 8 percent are unsure.
A majority of Democrats, Republicans, and non-enrolled voters alike believe that the Democratic governor elected in November 2006 should submit his resignation.
Also, 49 percent of registered voters surveyed in New York say Spitzer should face criminal charges for his role as a customer of the Emperors Club VIP escort service, even if he quits. And most of the voters surveyed say he should be impeached, as the minority leader of the state House is recommending, if Spitzer does not resign.
Read more here, and see the poll: Download file
Republicans are most adamant about this, with 64 percent of Republicans surveyed saying Spitzer should be charged with a crime. Just 39 percent of Democrats surveyed think so.
The survey by Marist College also finds that New Yorkers think that Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, and Lt. Gov. David Paterson will run for governor in 2010. Fifty-six percent say they'd like to see Bloomberg run for governor of New York in two years, and 50 percent want Paterson to seek election as governor in 2010.
This compares with jusdt 39 percent who would like to see state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and son of a famous former governor, run for the state’s highest office. Similarly, only 38 percent sayRepublican former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should run.
The Marist survey of 624 New York registered voters was conducted Monday, the day that Spitzer publicly apologized for personal behavior that he did not detail, after federal prosecutors unveiled details of an international prosecution ring. The possible margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
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Comments
If Spitzer resigns/gets impeached, I assume the Lt. Gov steps in at this point? Or is there a mid-term appt made and by whom? Any NY gov't experts out there?
Posted by: Steve S | March 12, 2008 10:01 AM
For every action we take, there are consequences. When are we going to learn? They're called "The Ten Commandments," not 'Suggestions.'
Posted by: E.J. Vianney | March 13, 2008 1:03 AM
Maybe this incident will induce the ex-Governor to rethink his position on the legal prohibition of victimless crimes. Not just prositution, but drugs, gambling, "insider" trading, "intent to monopolize", the any of the other myriad of ways people fail to prove to a government which presumes they're guilty that they're actually innocent.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he lost his job, but I certainly hope he avoids any legal punishment. Perhaps, finding himself in exactly the same position, and as part of his defense, he can call for the pardons off all of the people who he's has robbed or their liberty over the course of his career.
Eliot Spitzer is a victim of his own statist agenda - gleaned perfectly, like an expert populist, from the sentiments of both the Left and the Right. Yes, Spitzer should be facing legal trouble - but if he does, it shouldn't be for visiting a prostitute, but for repeatedly and routinely violating the Constitution of the United States.
Posted by: Grant Williams | March 13, 2008 9:40 AM
E.J.
Call it semantics, but definitions of adultery do vary by imprecise religious definitions; only the local laws apply. The law in New York is not the same as the Montana.
Religious views of prostitution were tolerable-yet-immoral in the Middle Ages for Christians, so even the interpretation of these commandments are inconsistent.
I make the case that I may not believe in your God or your commandments and that your ideas of damnation do not apply to me but the local laws sure do.
Sorry pal, religion loses.
Posted by: David | March 13, 2008 11:28 AM
WELL IN THAT CASE IF THAT IS REALLY THE TRUTH.THEN HE MUST LEAVE THE OFFICE.BECAUSE THAT IS NOT THE WORK OF A LEADER. BEING A LEADER MEANS ALWAYS ABIDING THE LAW AND IN THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE HE IS NOT.BUT IF ITS NOT TRUE HE SHOULD PROVE IT OTHERWISE TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE.
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Posted by: LEILYN REAL | May 7, 2008 2:31 AM