Legislative Gazette

Legislative Gazette: "By ROY KILKEARY Legislative Gazette Staff Writer Mon, Feb 26, 2007 According to a recent poll, America may be ready for a female president. However, another survey of voters in New York State shows U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's popularity declining in her own backyard. The Times Union and Siena College recently conducted their third annual First Woman President poll, asking a variety of questions gauging the support of Americans for a female candidate. The poll showed increasing support for a female presidential candidate from previous years in almost all areas covered. “Of six issues polled, a woman wins five, losing only as commander in chief,” said Douglas Lonnstrom, director of the Siena Research Institute. Numbers showed that Americans think a woman president would be equally or better equipped to deal with issues such as disaster response, domestic issues, Social Security and pensions, energy policy and foreign policy. The only area polled where Americans believe a female president would perform equally or worse on an issue is as commander in chief on defense issues. While in previous years the poll focused on the general idea of a female commander-in-chief, this year’s poll contained more questions geared specifically toward Clinton’s, D-Chappaqua, bid for the presidency. These included whether she would be too heavily influenced by former president and husband Bill Clinton ¯ 73 percent say she would not ¯ and whether voters think she will become the Democratic candidate ­¯ 54 percent think so. On the issue of whether Clinton’s previous stint as first lady would increase her effectiveness as president, 52 percent of men and 61 percent of women answered yes. "