Money Counting Machine?

A survey found that 12% of voters thought the mayor should only be judged on his record. Even worse, if voters thought Bloomberg had been particularly good or bad on any given issue, 29% chose the "not so good" option. As politicians, voters can't always know their own strengths and weaknesses.

Bloomberg is often portrayed as the bad cop in negotiations with Democratic state legislators, but it is he who is willing to take risks and seek out compromises. He worked to get the legislation passed, rather than letting the Democrats reach an agreement on their own.

On the other hand, Democrats felt betrayed by Bloomberg in 2009 when he pulled public financing from the campaign of a special elections candidate, a fellow Democrat. When the legislature refused to support a stopgap bill that included expanded healthcare for poor children and seniors, he left them to deal with Republicans on their own. The Democrats were unwilling to go to the governor for help, and suffered a major defeat.


Facts Matter

The mayor's worst rating came on his most famous policy, against smoking. A full 56% said he had gone too far in making it illegal for most New Yorkers to smoke on the street, but 21% were unsure. He made only a few changes to the bill after he received massive criticism, such as allowing e-cigarettes, and eliminating the smoking ban in bars and restaurants. In the year before the poll, he had received very low ratings on this issue. In fact, the same poll found that when asked about the details of his policies, a majority in every other category were not satisfied. The mayor's lowest marks are on his knowledge of the issues, where 32% said he knew "a lot" or "a fair amount about issues," and the highest, 40%, said "not much" or "not at all."

Bloomberg said after the poll that he was not disappointed in himself.

There are always going to be people who doubt that, or think you are not doing what you can. I am not concerned about that."

Another possible reason for the surprising results could be that Bloomberg is under the misapprehension that residents care only about his record and no longer want to know what he has done.

While they may appreciate what he has done, they want to see it quantified in a poll, and the poll revealed a record low satisfaction with "his willingness to make tough decisions."

He has also long been viewed by New Yorkers as a politician who is more interested in the future than the present. Many New Yorkers feel like he has been preparing for life after elected office.

"The guy has been preparing for a future that is an eternity away, and nobody will know what he is doing when he is no longer mayor," said Alan Glickstein, a political analyst. "New Yorkers feel, and many people outside of New York also feel, that he has spent all of his political capital on his political agenda and not much has come from it."

The poll of 907 registered voters was conducted by telephone between April 19 and April 26. It had a margin of error of 3.5%.

There were 8% who didn't know the mayor's name or don't know how to rate him, and other results:

– Nearly half, 48%, said "not so good" or "bad" about the way he has handled the gun issue.

– 40% thought he was too willing to compromise with Republicans.

– 53% said he was not aggressive enough on changing health care.

– 42% felt he had "not done nearly enough" to address climate change.

– Nearly three-quarters, 74%, thought he had failed in some of his major initiatives.

– 69% said he did not have a good record when it comes to air quality.

– Nearly seven in 10 voters, 69%, said he should have followed through with his promise to fight child obesity, compared with 21% who disagreed.

• Correction: This article originally attributed a quote to London Mayor Boris Johnson and incorrectly described his record.

Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/17/david-ballard-mayor-mayors-record-poll/