Normally, when a candidate publicly says things that lead one to question that candidate's mental state, voters step back in a hurry.

However, this truism seemingly does not apply to republican primary voters, according to Quinnipiac. Senate longshot K.T. McFarland is reaping a reward following her claim that the Democratic incumbent had sent 'black helicopters' to spy on her mansion in The Hamptons.

The claim seemingly struck struck a nerve in her base; she now leads her primary opponent, former head of the Yonkers machine John Spencer, 35% - 22%. No news on whether she's planning a Vince Foster séance to seal the deal.

Only in New York, folks, only in New York.

In other news, the AG primary race seems to be solidifying, with Cuomo maintaining a lead over Green, and both trouncing all other contenders, including Jeanine Pirro. However, with 26% of Democrats still undecided, and several months to go until the primary, there's lots of room for change in that race.

New Yorker's opinion of George Bush now stands at 69% – 28% disapproval – approval. It's fair to assume (though Quinnipiac does not poll on the subject) that this dislike will shade into and influence the Congressional and state legislative races. Notably, these numbers correlate with the poll ceiling seemingly afflicting all republican statewide candidates, none of whom rises over 28% outside of the margin of error.

Oh, and Hillary still leads in every poll against every conceivable challenger with margins of 2:1 or better. Interestingly, her personal favorability rating remains mired at 48%, with 29% of the electorate expressing unfavorable views of the junior Senator; her job approval rating stands at 57% positive, 35% negative, which leads inescapably to the conclusion that some people may dislike her, but give her credit for her work.

And here's the full release.

Former Federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo leads among New York State Democrats in the race for State Attorney General with 37 percent, followed by former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green with 25 percent, as no other candidate gets more than 3 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of New York State voters released today. Another 26 percent of Democrats are undecided.

In a general election matchup, Cuomo leads Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the likely Republican candidate, 51 - 31 percent, while Green leads Pirro 47 - 31 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

By a 24 - 18 percent margin, New York State voters have a favorable opinion of Cuomo, with 23 percent mixed and 34 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion. Green gets a 22 - 11 percent favorability rating, with 16 percent mixed and 51 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion. Pirro's favorability is a negative 16 - 18 percent, with 14 percent mixed and 52 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion. "Among Democrats, it's still a two-person race for attorney general and Cuomo has a double-digit lead over Green. But one out of four Democrats won't pick yet among the six candidates," said Maurice Carroll, Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Even though New York has a tradition of splitting the top state jobs between the parties, in this early match-up, Pirro gets only the generic Republican one-third against Cuomo or Green."

Former White House official Kathleen McFarland is the choice of 35 percent of New York State Republicans to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Hillary Clinton, followed by former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer with 22 percent. Among Republicans, 37 percent are undecided.

Sen. Clinton beats McFarland 60 - 29 percent in a general election matchup, and tops Spencer 60 - 30 percent.

"In the Senate race, there's a generic Republican vote of a bit less than a third. Clinton gets the rest," Carroll said.

Voters approve 57 - 35 percent of the job Sen. Clinton is doing. By a 48 - 29 percent margin, voters have a favorable opinion of her, with 18 percent mixed and 3 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion. For McFarland and Spencer, at least 71 percent of voters haven't heard enough to form an opinion.

Clinton's views are in the mainstream, according to 66 percent of New York State voters, including 38 percent of Republicans, while 26 percent of all voters and 55 percent of Republicans say her views are extreme.

Clinton is a liberal, 43 percent of voters say, with 38 percent who say she is a moderate and 10 percent who say she is conservative.

"Some left-wing Democrats have been picketing Mrs. Clinton lately. Some right- wing Republicans have never liked her. But two-thirds of New Yorkers think her views are in the mainstream," Carroll said.

New York State voters disapprove 69 - 28 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing, a new low for the President.

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