NYC Media Promote Paterson's Deflection Tactic, Ignore Rush's Ratings Gains

NUMBER ONE IN NEW YORK

While Paterson's NY Popularity Sinks, Rush's On The Rise







Though it didn't work for Obama, embattled New York Governor David Paterson seems to believe Rush-bashing will reverse his sagging fortunes. While conventional wisdom might view this as a successful strategy, especially in the Big Apple, the reality is quite different: as Paterson continues to sink, Limbaugh only gains strength.

Only too happy to take cheap shots at El Rushbo, the local media gleefully reported on Paterson's dig, while refusing to disclose the talk titan's number one ratings in New York City. The New York Daily News, for example, resorted to childish personal insults, while the New York Post has declined to cover Limbaugh's surging ratings.

In addition, the latter publication yesterday also refused to print an opinion piece detailing his performance. Though it may surprise some, the Post has traditionally been just as hostile to Limbaugh as its print rival.


The showdown began earlier this week when Limbaugh said he was fed up with New York City's shockingly high taxes and the annual audits endured, just for a second home used for occasional visits. From the New York Times:

Rush Limbaugh is fed up with taxes in New York and with Gov. David A. Paterson in particular. The radio talk-show host denounced the so-called millionaires’ tax in the new state budget and then announced on the air this week that he would be packing up and leaving town.

Aside from putting his New York condominium — a penthouse at 1049 Fifth Avenue — on the market, Mr. Limbaugh’s vow won’t change much, and it won’t mean a loss of a lot of revenue for a state awash in red ink. According to The Daily News, Mr. Limbaugh said he only stays in New York around 15 days a year, mostly to avoid hurricanes headed for Florida, where he spends most of his time. He told his listeners he would look for a backup studio somewhere else, maybe in Texas.

That led Paterson to quip:

“If I knew that would be the result,” he said after a speech Thursday morning in Midtown, “I would’ve thought about the taxes earlier.”

On the air yesterday, this was Rush's response:

RUSH: Governor Paterson, if this is the case -- if you don't care about the revenue that you confiscate from me -- then call off your audit dogs, because I've been audited for 12 straight years by New York State and New York City! I've been audited 12 straight years. So call off your audit dogs, if you don't care about the money that you were confiscating from me for your wards of the state! So a governor -- a governor of a state! -- has actually told reporters that he's so happy I'm leaving, he would have raised taxes even sooner if he knew that would have forced me out of New York State. I'm wondering: Has a governor of any state ever said anything like that about a private citizen? Are you just as happy with all the other New Yorkers who are going to leave, Governor Paterson? Because there will be others.

Governor Paterson, do you know that you have an exodus on your hands from Long Island, and for a long time you've had an exodus on your hands from Long Island moving to southern states like North Carolina and Florida because they're sick and tired of the property taxes, the state taxes, the city taxes, and all the other taxes? So are you going to be happy that other taxpayers decide to leave New York, or just me? Just me? What an honor! What an honor. Folks, is there any other private citizen, any other -- who is not a criminal; you know, who is an upstanding citizen, a man for the ages. Is there any other governor who has ever excitedly said, "If I would have known he was leaving the state, I would have raised taxes sooner," or what have you? Hubba hubba. You know, I haven't even cracked any David Paterson jokes, unlike others in the media have.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Well, it has happened again, folks. I've always said if you place a bag of manure in front of a Democrat they will certainly step in it, and New York Governor David Paterson certainly has. He's now joking about raising taxes an astronomical amount in New York State. I need to clarify something about this because, as is the usual case, the real crux of my comments here about leaving New York have been missed, on purpose. I am technically not leaving New York because I'm not there now. I moved out of New York in 1997. Every year I sent them letters saying, "Sorry. I miss you, but I've moved. I now live in Florida, and it's why I'm not filing a tax return." In 2002, I got a letter and an audit from 1997 through 2001 -- and it took two years to prove to them where I was every day of the year 14 different ways, and I have been audited every year since.

The way the first audit ended up is that when I do work in New York, I pay a per diem tax like athletes do, when they go in and play. They pay their taxes in New York State and the City, when they go to play the Mets or the Yankees. It's a mess, but that's what it is. We negotiated that; it's all done. Now I get audited every year on the number of days I'm there and I have to prove it, and it's just not worth it. And now he's raising taxes to boot on all of this, and finally I've reached the tipping point. So I am going to cease doing business in New York. I do not live there! That's what makes all of this ridiculous. I do not live there, and I've been audited by that state and the city for 12 years. So, with the tax increase and the fact that I'm rarely there and have to go through all this hassle, it's sayonara.

I'm not leaving. I already did. I'm just not going to be doing business in New York anymore. And if the governor is happy about that, then he can go tell the wards of the state that I'm supporting that they're going to have to find somebody else to provide the tax revenue.

But as we detailed on March 26, Rush Limbaugh now ranks number one in New York City among all listeners 12 and older. According to Arbitron, he has an average of 693,000 Big Apple listeners, with the number expected to grow as a result of his recent showdown with the White House.

How does that contrast with the public perception that Rush is hated in New York? That figure represents Rush's highest concentration of listenership of any region in the country. It may be the biggest metro area, but it's also where the largest number of his fans live.


Contrast that with Governor Paterson, who according to a recent Siena poll, has seen his popularity plunge. Just 19% of voters now approve of his performance. Only 14% would like to see him elected to a full term, according to the Daily News:

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson's job performance ratings have crashed thorough the floor, with less than one in five New Yorkers saying he's doing well, a new poll shows.

Just 19% of those polled gave him a positive rating, while 78% turned thumbs down, the Siena College poll found. That's down from 51% positive and 45% negative in the same poll just two months ago.

How bad have things gone for a governor?

New York's first black governor trails Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 55-22% among black voters in a potential 2010 primary.

Overall, he would lose to Cuomo 67% to 17%, the poll found. In late January, Paterson held a small lead over Cuomo.

"The speed of his falling numbers is staggering," Siena Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said.

Two months ago, voters viewed Paterson favorably by a 54% to 34% margin. The latest poll has him at 29% favorable and 58% unfavorable.

A whopping 67% of voters say they'd prefer someone else for governor next year, compared to just 14% who say they would vote to elect Paterson to a full four-year term.

Is this a person who should be picking a fight with Rush Limbaugh? Beyond that, it's terribly short-sighted for a nearly-bankrupt state to encourage political dissenters to move elsewhere.


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