Our pollster pal Jonathan Zogby has been testing voters in his home state of New York on all the big issues of the day, including the coronavirus and the 2020 presidential race.
But while his job is mostly all work, there is some play involved too.
Case in point: His latest Zogby Poll looked into the popularity of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s shepherd-Siberian-malamute mix “Captain,” sometimes mentioned during the daily coronavirus briefing.
In April, for example, Cuomo mentioned his dog while expressing concerns about people feeling cabin fever during extended stay-at-home rules.
“There’s no medical definition for cabin fever, but I believe it exists,” said Cuomo. “The dog is also experiencing cabin fever,” he said, adding, “The order of the pack has changed. … He doesn’t know where he fits. He has anxiety.”
Captain has also been featured in the Cuomo family’s social media postings.
So, Zogby tested the dog’s popularity.
“’Captain’ has maintained a lower profile than his owner, but like his owner, is enjoying a surge in popularity. At the moment, 39% of New York likely voters are at least somewhat favorable of Captain, while 11% are at least somewhat unfavorable of Captain. More than a third (36%) are not familiar, and 13% were not sure of how they feel regarding New York’s first dog,” he said.
What does it all mean? Zogby said:
