"It's a polling cliché that voters don't like the legislature but do like their legislator.   Even that seems to be fraying," said Maurice Carroll, a spokesman for Quinnipiac. "A number of voters would keep their legislator, but a larger number think we ought to completely clean house."

Quinnipiac asked voters if they supported same-sex marriage, and found 47 percent in favor and 46 percent against. That's within the poll's 2.4 percent margin of error.

"The defeat of same-sex marriage in the State Senate seems to have deflated some of the support among voters," Carroll said.  "Young voters support it, while older voters oppose it, so it's just a matter of time."

121609 NY SEN + BP

The first question pollsters examined was whether the senator could survive a primary—most all of the Democrats who had pondered running against her, including Jon Cooper, have since dropped from the race—against a downstate challenger, of whom the latest favorite is Bill Thompson.

A poll by the Siena Research Institute shows 32 percent of Democrats backing Gillibrand, compared to 23 percent for Thompson. Siena also threw two other names in the mix: Jonathan Tasini, a labor activist who ran against Hillary Clinton and Harold Ford Jr., who drew (respectively) three and seven percent. The winner in Siena's question was "don't know," which drew 35 percent.

A survey by Quinnipiac Polling Institute knocked Ford and Tasini (who has been raising money for the seat) out of the field, and found that Thompson would beat Gillibrand 41-28 with a particularly acute drubbing (65-11) among black Democrats.

"If New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson can raise some money and get in the race, he has a double-digit lead over rookie U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand," said Maurice Carroll, Quinnipiac's spokesman. "But Giuliani, who is pondering a Senate race, tops both of them."

If he gets in. Siena showed that Giuliani has the support of 57 percent of Republicans surveyed in a primary, beating George Pataki, Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, Michael Balboni and Michael Blakeman for the nomination. Siena showed Gillibrand would defeat Pataki 46-42 but would lose to Giuliani 49-42. (The Pataki result is close to the poll's 3.8 percent margin of error.) The difference, according to the Crosstabs, lies among women: Giuliani runs five points better than Pataki, and Gillibrand's support among women in a hypothetical match-up against either man is five percent lower against Giuliani. (Quinnipiac reported Giuliani would beat Gillibrand 50-40.)

Gillibrand's favorability rating is stagnant, with most voters—58 percent, according to Quinnipiac—not having heard enough about her to form an opinion. Seventy percent of blacks gave that response and, surprisingly, 61 percent of women. (Siena's statistic here is 49 percent.)

According to Quinnipiac, Gillibrand's unfavorability rating has climbed as more voters learn about her.

121509 NY-QPOLL

"Dysfunctional is practically a synonym for the New York State Legislature and voters want a change," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "While voters tend to like their own legislators, almost half of New Yorkers are ready to throw out their own state senator in a general house-cleaning."

By a 70-21 margin, the voters surveyed said they want to see an independent redistricting commission which has been long-sought be government reform groups. The poll also finds voters in favor of a constitutional convention 64-24 percent.

The poll surveyed 1,667 registered voters throughout the state last week.

Sixty-nine percent of the voters surveyed disapproved of how the State Legislature is handling its job, and 67 percent were not pleased with how the State Senate is handling its job. That chamber is embroiled in a leadership fight.

Regardless, the poll finds, voters would support returning their state senator to office by a margin of 48-27 percent.

"Dysfunctional? That could be the automatic adjective for Albany.   Maybe we should find a more vivid word," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Bill Cunningham has a more vivid way of putting it in this essay on Huffington Post, in which he claims comparing legislators to clowns as an insult to clowns.

"To compare these hard-working, well trained professionals to our state senate is an insult to anyone named Bozo, Clarabelle, or Emmett Kelly," Cunningham writes. "In fact, Jerry Lewis, America's internationally recognized symbol of zany comedy, should lead a protest march on Albany. These senators are giving clowns, comedians, and con men a bad name."

Here's Carroll explaining why he doesn’t ask about a certain, well-worn topic anymore.

“In the past, we have asked about the third-term business. People did not like the change in the term limits and they think it ought to be restored--after this election,” he said.

“Quinnipiac has asked it a couple of times and what it shows is people think it’s a bad idea, but they still like Bloomberg,” he said.

They also “don’t blame him for the change,” Carroll said.

Here’s how Carroll quantified the damage Bloomberg will incur because of the term-limits extension: “Instead of getting, you know, 58 percent, you get 56.”

Here's Carroll explaining why he doesn’t ask about a certain, well-worn topic anymore.

“In the past, we have asked about the third-term business. People did not like the change in the term limits and they think it ought to be restored--after this election,” he said.

“Quinnipiac has asked it a couple of times and what it shows is people think it’s a bad idea, but they still like Bloomberg,” he said.

They also “don’t blame him for the change,” Carroll said.

Here’s how Carroll quantified the damage Bloomberg will incur because of the term-limits extension: “Instead of getting, you know, 58 percent, you get 56.”