You know the Senate seat in New York? Cuomo preferred over Kennedy

Every politician has a speech pattern or a phrase that they're associated with.

For President Bush it was the word "nucular".  John McCain couldn't stop saying, "my friends".  Sarah Palin had "gol durn ding dang you betcha also too".  Rod Blagojevich has, "@&$% ##@@!  $%##$@@! you $###*&&@#@!" And Caroline Kennedy has "you know".

It's that "you know" that's getting her into trouble in New York, at least according to the pollsters at Quinnipiac University.

New poll

They've got a new poll out today which shows New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo the preferred candidate over Kennedy by a 31 - 24 percent margin.

The reason for the Cuomo surge?  Same thing that happened to Palin.  No, Kennedy didn't say she could see Russia from her house.  But like Palin, her inaugural interviews weren't that great.

"Caroline Kennedy's stumbling start in her first interviews may have cost her the lead," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "It's close, but Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is No. 1 among voters in the race for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat."

You know

How about her propensity to say "you know"?  They polled it.  They found out that 48 percent of New Yorkers weren't surprised to hear her utter the phrase.  Further 58 percent expected the media to focus on it.

"You know, New Yorkers weren't particularly surprised at Kennedy's verbal tics. And they sort of expected the media to, you know, emphasize them," Carroll said, showing that pollsters can have a sense of humor.

The lead

Cuomo is ahead in every category.  Upstaters prefer Cuomo 31 - 20 percent.  Suburbanites give him a 36 - 22 nod.  Those in New York City like Cuomo 31 - 29 percent.  Men like Cuomo by 32 - 23 percent margin while women prefer the Attorney General 31 - 25 percent.

So it's all over?  It's Senator Cuomo?

Nope.  It's up to Governor Paterson.

"There's only one New Yorker whose opinion counts, of course, Gov. David Paterson," Carroll said. "And a plurality of the rest of us still think that Paterson will pick Kennedy".

To read the full poll, click here.

To read about Senator McCain's daughter refusing to comment on Sarah Palin, click here.