Q poll: On prostitution, Spitzer, Paterson
Quinnipiac polled on last week’s topic du jour—prostitution—after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation after being linked to a high-priced call girl ring.
The poll, with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, found that 62 percent of New Yorkers oppose legalized prostitution involving people over the age of 18. That includes 54 percent of men and 68 percent of women. Overall, 66 percent said it was not a victimless crime.
Some 73 percent of voters said people who patronize prostitutes should face the same punishment as prostitutes themselves. On this question—and others—men were more lenient than women.
A whopping 81 percent said it was right for Spitzer to resign; 48 percent say he should be charged with a crime.
New York State voters give their new Governor, David Paterson, a strong vote of confidence, with 75 percent saying he will govern effectively and 67 percent saying he will restore trust in state government, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Among black voters, 81 percent say he will govern effectively and 69 percent say he will restore trust in government.
Some 46 percent have a favorable opinion of new Gov. David Paterson, but 51 percent say they don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. The pollsters report that “attitudes about Paterson shifted slightly on the last night of the survey, March 18, after media reports of his marital problems,” but don’t give details.
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Legalize it, it will bring tax money into the state.
Hey, I thought you were client #6. Aren’t you the Duke of Westiminster?
Or are you David Paterson?
Exactly, how was the question (regarding legalizing prostitution) phrased? Wording makes a difference. In other polls, when asked, “Should what happens behind closed doors, on private property, between consenting adults be any business of government?â€, usually between 70% and 80% will respond “NOâ€.
I wonder if anyone has read Joe Klein’s 2006 book, “Politics Lost”? I’m not in his political camp, but he explains a lot about polling, how we package our politicians, and the radical PR changes in politics since the seventies.
Ka-Ja; sorry it took me a few days to get back to your question.
The question posed in the poll was:
“Do you think prostitution involving people over 18 should be legalized? ”
Full details of the poll here: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1318.xml?ReleaseID=1160