Media tries spinning Cuomo’s approval drop

The media is trying to spin Gov. Cuomo’s plunge in the polls:

“Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job approval has fallen to 54 percent – the lowest point since he took office in 2011 – but broad support for his agenda remains among New Yorkers, a Siena College poll released this morning found … If anything, the poll affirms that Cuomo spent considerable political capital on forcing the gun control law through the Legislature …”

How could his gun control agenda have “broad support” if his approval rating dropped 20 points since December?

“… Support remains for the SAFE Act, which was passed in January and updated the state’s assault weapons ban and limited the number of rounds in a magazine from 10 to seven.  The law has become a flashpoint for gun-rights advocates across the country … The measure has been the subject of several pro-gun rights rallies at the Capitol and a handful of Republican lawmakers in the Senate are pushing for “repeal and replacement” of the law’s key provisions.  Also, a steady stream of local governments – all of them upstate – have passed resolutions calling for Albany to ditch, or at least rework, the new gun law.  Despite all this upheaval, the SAFE Act remains popular with New Yorkers, according to Siena’s numbers.  Sixty-one percent of those surveyed say they back the law, down from 65 percent last month.  Repeal of the law is opposed by a margin of 56 percent to 40 percent …”

Just about every county from Rockland north has either passed a resolution condemning SAFE or has one pending so where are they getting these numbers from?  If you look at the two gun questions Siena asked neither of them accurately describes what the law actually does:

Q.17  New York’s Governor and Legislature recently enacted the toughest gun control law in the country. Do you support or oppose the state’s new gun law?

Q.18  Some have said that the state’s new gun law was passed in haste, without enough time for careful review or to gage whether or not there was public support for the new law.  They point to the fact that the Governor and Legislature have already admitted that corrections to the new law need to be enacted.  Supporters say the law was long overdue and was needed.  Which of the following two statements comes closest to your opinion: The law was rushed through without adequately considering public opinion and the effect the law would have, OR the law was needed and while passed quickly was the right thing to do.

This poll is garbage and the media is doing their best to pooh-pooh the issue as if it doesn’t matter.