Good news for people who like trial balloons for bad candidates! The New York Daily News' Elizabeth Benjamin heard from one Manhattanite who received a polling call that appeared to be "testing the viability of former LG Betsy McCaughey as a statewide candidate for either governor or the US Senate." That caller tells the NYDN:
"They asked a series of favorable/unfavorable including Cuomo, Levy, Ross, Blakeman, Schumer and Gillibrand followed by an open-ended question of what comes to mind when you think of Betsy McCaughey and then positive or negative on her.
I emphasize "Ross" here, because, as Benjamin points out "the pollster referred to the would-be candidate as "Betsy McCaughey Ross," which is how she was known back when she served as former Gov. George Pataki's No. 2 from 1995 to 1998." The call angled to see how well Ross/McCaughey stacked up in both the race for the Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand and for the State House. According to the source, the call concluded: "With individual testing McCaughey Ross points: Spent 18 months fighting to stop Obama health care legislation; next Former Lt Gov; then never worked in D.C.; and last launched nationwide effort to stop hospital infections."
Poor New York! Here I thought they'd turned the corner when a mere 27% of voters in New York's 13th District said, "Hey, ho! I definitely think that I should be represented by face-slashing jackass Hiram Monserrate!" (Though maybe that 27% of voters thought themselves to be facing a credible threat of further face-slashing? It's possible: Monserrate is the worst.) Now, they may have to endure the candidacy of Betsy McCaughey, a world-famous liar who we last saw telling world-famous lies on "The Daily Show".
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