Governor David Paterson's approval rating is now at a record low, and it appears many voters want him to rethink an election bid.

A new Quinnipiac University survey released Monday shows only 28 percent of New York State voters approve of Paterson's job performance and 60 percent disapprove. That is the lowest approval rating ever for a New York governor.

The survey says only 22 percent of voters think he deserves to be elected to a full four-year term, as opposed to the 63 percent who think he should not be elected.

It also finds that 53 percent think he should announce now that he will not seek his own term in office.

However, Paterson said Monday that with so many New Yorkers hurting, he is not thinking about his future in government.

"Right now, we have an historically high budget deficit. So it would follow that whoever is supervising it would have historically low poll numbers, because we have been equal opportunity offenders," said the governor.

Even among Democrats, Paterson's job performance is poor, with 49 percent saying he should drop out of the race now, compared to the 45 percent who believe he should stay in the running.

Paterson does not fair very well against his potential rivals. In a Democratic primary match up, he trails State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by a staggering 61 to 18 percent.

In a general election match up, Paterson trails former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani 53 to 32 percent.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,528 New York State registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The survey includes 664 Democrats with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

Yet when Paterson returned to his home base Monday to tout an affordable housing grant for a Harlem apartment building, many political allies raced to defend him from a barrage of negative reports about his administration.

"It's almost spiritual, the lives that have been saved as a result of his leadership," said Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel. "But make no bones about it, when we look at the newspapers tomorrow morning, we are going to see an entirely different story."

"You are fighting your tail off and I am so proud of you," said Manhattan Councilman Robert Jackson.

Prominent members of the state's Democratic Party are reportedly prepared to ask Paterson to sit out the 2010 election if he cannot earn higher approval ratings by this fall.

Paterson blamed the recent state budget deal for his poll numbers, but critics say lawmakers avoided making tough choices in this budget, arguing that it shows little fiscal discipline.

"The unions aren't happy with this budget, the hospital association is not happy with this budget, businesses aren't happy with this budget and everyday New Yorkers can't be happy with the budget," said the governor.

Paterson said he will travel through the state to explain to New Yorkers that the budget was fair and that cuts were distributed equally.