A pair of polls has produced different results about the prospect of Caroline Kennedy as a choice to take the seat that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton will be vacating.
When asked who Gov. David Paterson should choose, 26 percent named named Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, himself the scion of one of the state's best known political families, and 23 percent said Kennedy, according to a Siena College poll conducted dec. 8-11. When it came to just Democrats, Cuomo was favored by 30 percent to 28 percent. The other candidates mentioned all registered in the single digits. The poll said Cuomo led in every region of the state, which is well known for its upstate-downstate differences, Kennedy led among black and Latino voters and they tied among younger voters. Their favorable to unfavorable ratios are similar: Kennedy's at 58 percent to 21 percent, and Cuomo's at 59 percent to 24 percent.
A Public Policy Polling survey conducted Dec. 8-9 had Kennedy as the top choice of Democrats by 44 percent to 23 percent. The poll found her margin to be narrower upstate where she leads 36 percent to 22 percent. She leads 45 percent to 25 percent in New York City and has her strongest support in the suburbs where her margin is 57 percent to 24 percent.