Poll Says Popularity of Tea Party's Carl Paladino Has Cooled Off

New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino speaks during an interview with The...

New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in this Sept. 27, 2010 file photo, in New York../New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo smiles during a news conference for recalled Toyota cars in New York, in this Feb. 24, 2010 file photo.

(AP Photo/Getty Images)

Carl Paladino's Blustery Style May Have Hurt Him

Just this week, Paladino called state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver a "criminal," a characterization rejected even by many of Silver's critics.

At the same time, Cuomo unleashed his first attack ad, a commercial that characterized Paladino as a "welfare king" who prospered from the kind of government wheeling-and-dealing Paladino routinely attacks. The ad spotlighted a $1.4 million state business tax break that Paladino received and then lost after the project only created one job.

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The new poll confirms just how big a toll the controversies have taken. More than half the likely voters, 54 percent, now say Paladino does not have the right personality to be governor, a politically lethal number.

The new poll shows that 49 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of Paladino, an increase of 15 points in just two weeks.

"Paladino's 'angry man' style gets a lot of attention, but he comes up negative on the personality test," Carroll said. The new poll surveyed 1,141 voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.