New York Turns Negative on Obama

President Downgrade pulled 63% of the vote in New York in 2008 and as recently as June 29 had a 57% approval rating there.

Well, those days are over.

- President Obama might need to start taking a few more campaign trips to New York -- and not just to raise cash.

A stunning new survey gives the president a negative approval rating in the Empire State for the first time, with just 45 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval among voters, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

That's a sharp turnaround from June, when Obama's New York popularity was a healthy 57-38.

In the 2008 presidential election, Obama carried New York with 63 percent of the vote.

The poll of 1,640 registered voters was conducted from Aug. 3-8, just after Congress approved the hard-fought debt legislation and before this week's market mayhem on Wall Street.

But according to Quinnipiac, Obama in his re-election bid next year would still take 49 percent of the vote in New York state versus a generic GOP challenger's 34 percent.

"The debt-ceiling hullabaloo devastated Obama's numbers even in true-blue New York," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The bad New York polling news came as Obama jetted into town last night for his latest big-bucks fund-raiser -- a party for 50 guests at the home of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein on Bank Street in the West Village.

"This is a pretty good-looking crowd," Obama said.

The event was co-hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and celebs on hand included singer Alicia Keys, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin of the rock band Coldplay, and comedian Jimmy Fallon.

Obama was also attended an intimate event for just 15 big-bucks contributors at the Ritz-Carlton.

Guests at both events paid $35,800 each, with proceeds going to Obama's re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

That means Obama was set to haul in more than $2 million last night in New York, just the latest of several fund-raising visits to the Empire State.

If he's polling negatively in New York he's facing a landslide defeat come 2012. When your numbers go down 12 points in five weeks, you've got serious problems. Maybe he can just blame those Tea Party meanies.

But hey, at least the beautiful people will still adore him.

Nationally, his numbers are just dreadful. You know what this mean? It's vacation time!