Outgoing Gov. George Pataki is not leaving office on a popular note according to a new poll released Marist College Institute of Public Opinion.

The poll from the Poughkeepsie college and WNBC-TV in New York City revealed only 30 percent of New York state's registered voters rate Pataki's job performance as excellent or good. This is the lowest point since the Republican governor assumed office nearly 12 years ago and the lowest approval rating for a governor since the Marist Poll began measuring statewide officeholders 23 years ago.

President George W. Bush fared even worse as only 24 percent of poll respondents said Bush is doing an excellent or good job. That, too, is a new low.

Also, 61 percent believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. That disapproval is even higher upstate as 75 percent of voters expressed disappointment compared to 50 percent in New York City and 46 percent in its suburbs.

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