NYers Want Clinton in 2016, Obama's Approval Rating at Historic Low: NBC4 Poll

The Marist poll finds four in 10 voters approve of the job Obama is doing

New York Democrats prefer Hillary Clinton over Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a potential Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, according to a new poll that also finds President Barack Obama's approval rating at its lowest point since taking office.

The poll by NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist finds that Clinton leads every potential Democratic opponent by more than 4 to 1 among registered Democrats.
 
She gets 64 percent of respondents' support, while Cuomo gets 14 percent, Vice President Joe Biden gets 8 percent and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren gets 6 percent.
 
And in a general election matchup, New York voters prefer Clinton or Cuomo against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the poll finds. Respondents support Clinton over Christie by 57 percent to 39 percent, Cuomo over Christie by 51 percent to 44 percent 
 
As the White House continues to struggle with a series of setbacks, including the failed rollout of the healthcare website, the poll finds four in 10 registered New York voters, or 40 percent, approve of the job Obama is doing -- the lowest since he took office. In April, 52 percent of registered voters gave him high marks.
 
The poll of 675 registered New York state voters, 294 of whom were Democrats, was taken Nov. 18 through Wednesday. It has a 3.8 percentage point margin of error for all registered voters and 5.7 percentage points for Democrats.
 
Cuomo continues to enjoy a healthy approval rating and would easily win re-election against several potential Republican challengers in hypothetical matchups, the poll finds.
 
Some 52 percent of registered voters approve of the job he is doing, about the same as the 54 percent he had when Marist last asked the question in April.
 
Cuomo leads several potential challengers for re-election by at least 40 percentage points.
 
Against Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, Cuomo gets 64 percent to 24 percent among registered voters. Against Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, he has 65 percent to 23 percent, and against businessman Carl Paladino, voters back Cuomo 67 percent to 24 percent.
 
Cuomo's chances are even better in a hypothetical matchup against Donald Trump; 70 percent of registered voters support him while 24 percent back the billionaire.
 
"Right now, Gov. Cuomo is in good shape to win a second term," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "None of Gov. Cuomo's likely challengers are in striking distance."
 
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