Looks like Andy’s in a heap o’ trouble. He probably won’t resign, but for the good of the party he ought to. Or, he could offer to not run for re-election next year. Either one works for me.
As I wrote earlier this year, when Andy won re-election in 2018 he won 59 percent of the vote. Very respectable. But in that same election, Kirsten Gilibrand won re-election to the Senate by 67 percent of the vote. That spoke to a certain amount of frustration with Andy among Democratic voters, I believe. After the nursing home stunt, winning a fourth term was going to be a challenge, anyway.
Yeah, a fourth term. He’s been governor of New York since 2011. This is not because he’s been such a wonderful governor. His primary challengers haven’t been that strong, and as a Democrat a can of soup would win election in the general. But he wore out his welcome with me a long time ago. He simply never made much difference that I could see. The same old problems limped along, unattended, year after year.
New York politics, either state or city, never made much sense to me. My impression is that all business is conducted behind such a thick wall of cronyism that there’s no logic to it. And Andy is a creature of that system; no doubt a great many Democratic politicians and officials in New York owe him something. But it’s time to go now, Andy.
Me? I never liked "Handy" Andy.
But I loved his father, Mario Cuomo – AKA: "Hamlet On the Hudson."
In 1988 and 1992, Mario was hemming and hawing, "should I run now, or wait 4 years?"
In '88, after 8 years of Reagan, he didn't want to face "Papa Doc" Bush, leaving Dukakis to run and lose.
And in '92, while Mario dithered again, Bill Clinton decided to take "Papa Doc" Bush on. Clinton was one of the few Dem's who thought he had a chance, while the others, like Mario, decided to let Bill run and lose, and then they'd pick up the pieces and run in '96. After 16 years of Republican "leadership," the country would definitely vote in a Democrat.
I think Mario felt '96 was going to be his year.
But… Clinton ran in '92, and then when he won, it was a sure thing he was running for reelection.
And so '96 was not, afterall, going to be Mario's year.
And by 2000, he was 68, and old news. Gore was battling Bill Bradley for the nomination.
There was speculation for years that the reason he never ran for POTUS was that he had Mafia ties. I think that was bull-tRUMP. That's an accusation that's often used against Italians.
I think Mario over-thought his opportunity, and his timing was awful.
As for Handy Andy, I'd prefer he leaves ASAP! But, like maha, if he promises not to run again, I guess I can put up with this arrogant asshole for another year or so.
YEP. So much young talent and way too much tarnish. Overripe by Democrat's standards. prime picking in R-think.
It's time to fold your tent, Andy!
What is it with politicians and perversion? It's not limited to party or race but the percentage of politicos with toxic waste morality is statistically improbable.
What is it with politicians and perversion?
I don't think it's limited to politicians or that it's necessarily a perversion. My theory is that most males are hard wired with desire and it's more a matter of self control on how to conduct your behavior. You might find an exception in a guy like Lindsey Graham who seems to be totally short circuited on the desire aspect, so self control doesn't really factor into his equation. But, I'd bet a guy like Chuck Grassley has to wrestle quite frequently with the desire to take some young female staffer into the cornfield. I can tell by looking at him. You know what they say about old guys like Chuckie…when there's snow on the roof, you can bet there's a fire in the fireplace.
I used to live in upstate New York, and I can attest that the cronyism is accurate, but punctuated with the narrow mindedness of parochialism.
About two thirds of the state's population, two thirds of the state's wealth and more than two thirds of the state's political power is located in the city and Westchester and Nassau counties. The elites in that region seem to come to the conclusion that they are superior to the rest of the country in all aspects. Becoming wealthy or being wealthy, rising in politics, or succeeding in politics can make people become caricatures of themselves and decide that they are above the law, above social norms and unanswerable to the hoi polloi. Thus they think they have license to allow their appetites and impulses be satisfied without a filter.
Power, the power to ruin someone's career, status, or even life becomes weaponized and is used to excuse and allow the behavior to continue unabated.
Case in point: Donald Trump.
Another case in point: Anthony Weiner (that's his name please don't censor it out).
A third case in point: Elliot Spitzer.
Power, wealth and the accompanying arrogance does carry weight in our society. Fairness and justice are just words for them.
Don't count out Andrew Cuomo just yet. And just in case he does survive this scandal I will still refer to him as Governor Cuomo.
Ciderwalk,
Thank you for a very astute take on NY.
Outside of 1 year in Philly, and 9 in NC, I've lived the other 53 years either In NYC, or the Mid-Hudson Valley. And I've often said of my state, that outside the NYC -Albany corridor, the state is like Alabama or Georgia, only with much colder winters.
Yes, but it wasn't always that way. Once, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo were industrial powerhouses, housing such names as Kodak, Carrier air conditioning (ironic, isn't it), Bausch and Lomb, and even the manufacturing section of IBM in Binghamton.
Syracuse was the the first and last stop of the now defunct "off broadway tour".
The decay seems to have begun after WWII and continued unabated to this day.
I lived in an oasis of sorts during this time. Ithaca is still a progressive bastion with some spark, and a great nightlife. I loved living there until I couldn't stand the six month winters any more.
We even had bumper stickers made up about Ithaca: one said "Ithaca is Gorges" referring to the scenic finger lakes and the terrain in town; and another read "Ithaca, nine square miles surrounded by reality".
However, without Cornell, Ithaca would be a tiny village no one ever heard of.
Thanks for letting me reminisce.
INOK even if your a Dem. You are just a dirty man getting exploited.
Retire!