Schumer Approval Below 50, A Nine-Year Low »

By Elizabeth Benjamin

US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t the only one whose numbers are slipping.

The junior senator’s political champion and mentor, US Sen. Chuck Schumer, has seen his approval rating continue its downward slide, dropping below the all-important 50 percent mark for the first time since 2001, according to another Marist poll released today.

Forty-seven percent of New York voters statewide say Schumer is doing a “good” or “excellent” job, while 31 percent gave him a rating of “fair” and “17″ percent say he’s performing poorly.

In April 2001, 49 percent approved of the job Schumer was doing. This isn’t his all-time Marist low, however. That came in March 2000, when just 39 percent of voters statewide gave the senior senator good grades.

Schumer’s decline is most precipitous in New York City, where his approval rating has dropped from 57 percent to 51 percent in just two weeks.

“Senator Schumer is not immune from the anti-incumbent sentiment among voters, but it would take a major effort to unseat him,” said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff.

Schumer has come under fire of late from Harold Ford Jr., whom he tried to persuade – so far unsuccessfully, it seems – not to challenge Gillibrand in a primary.

So far, Schumer faces a longshot primary challenge from comedian and drug law activist Randy Credico.

More worrisome for Schumer, perhaps, is the recent news that Republicans and Conservatives are trying to draft supply-side economist and TV host Larry Kudlow into the race.

Kudlow recently met with state GOP Chairman Ed Cox and state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, who called Kudlow a “soul mate” and said he’s seriously considering a challenge to Schumer.