Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Monday, April 21, 2014

Fred Dicker: Cuomo Will Get No Support From Dems If He Runs For President

If it's Monday, it's time for a Fred Dicker column slamming Andrew M. Cuomo.

Today's no different:

Gov. Cuomo, long known for his presidential aspirations, won’t enjoy the support of his own Democratic Party if Hillary Rodham Clinton decides not to run for president in 2016, top state Democrats have told The Post.

The Democrats said Cuomo’s worsening relations with his party have led many to look elsewhere for a presidential standard bearer, should Clinton not run.

He has had issues almost daily in recent weeks with Mayor de Blasio, top union leaders, the Working Families Party, former state Chairmen Jay Jacobs and John Sullivan, and key party leaders including state Democratic Co-Chair Stephanie Miner, who resigned abruptly last week.

Last month Democratic activist Bill Samuels — whose father, Howard, was the Democrats’ official choice for governor in 1974 (defeated in the primary by Hugh Carey) — even called Cuomo an “embarrassment’’ to his party and said he should run for re-election as a Republican.

“People don’t like Andrew Cuomo, and if you ask about the presidency, there’s no support there,’’ a prominent Democratic activist and party official told The Post.

“People don’t think he’s principled, they see him supporting people they oppose and not supporting people they support, and they believe he only cares about himself,’’ the activist continued.

...

Cuomo’s declining popularity among New York Democrats was reflected nationally in a Fox News poll last week.

Just 2 percent of Democrats picked Cuomo as their preferred candidate for president in 2016, down from 4 percent in December. Biden was backed by 14 percent and Warren by 6 percent.

Cuomo has been widely criticized by left-of-center Democrats for his refusal to back de Blasio’s plan for higher taxes on the wealthy, his support for charter schools, business-tax reductions, restraints on state spending, and his cozy relations with state Senate Republicans.

Cuomo was blistered last week by influential liberal Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson, executive editor of “The American Prospect,’’ under the headline “Democrats need to replace Andrew Cuomo.’’

The Post disclosed last week that influential Democrats for the first time believe Cuomo is vulnerable to defeat by GOP challenger Rob Astorino because of a lack of enthusiasm for his re-election.

Unfortunately this lack of support for Cuomo isn't translating into a challenger from the left to take him on in a primary or to run in the general election and take votes away from him this year.

2 comments:

  1. It's obvious, even if Hillary doesn't run, Cuomo would have a hard time winning the NY primary for the nomination. Just about any big name Democrat would beat him.

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    1. I'm not sure about that. What big name runs outside of Hillary? Biden? O'Malley? Not sure they beat him in NY. But overall, I don't think he has a great shot to win the Dem nomination.

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