Cuomo Tried To Talk Teachers Union Local Out Of Anti-Cuomo Protest On Long Island

So many stories today about Governor Cuomo's increasing political desperation.

First he cancelled his appearance at an Education Reform Now-sponsored conference at which he had been named "honorary chair" after the the meeting of wealthy edu-entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers became a flash point for parents and teachers around the state.

Then we got word from Fred Dicker in the NY Post that Republican strategists view Cuomo's launching of "Astorino's a racist!" political ads last week as a sign that the governor is seriously worried about his GOP opponent, Westechester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Then we got word from Pete Donahue in the Daily News that Cuomo's office orchestrated the "Governor Cuomo saves the TWU/MTA labor deal!" story after the two sides were very close to signing an agreement without the needing the governor to parachute in and "save the deal."

Now we learn from Newsday that the parent/teacher protest on Long Island that Cuomo publicly tried to ignore garnered much attention from his office behind the scenes:

On the eve of a rally to protest state education policies, Connetquot Teachers Association president Tony Felicio Jr. said he got a call from a friend who was acting as an intermediary with the Cuomo administration. 

 Joseph Percoco, a longtime aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was trying to get a message to him, Felicio said he was told. 

"Call off the rally," Felicio recalled, "and he'll set up a meeting with the governor. Obviously, I didn't do that." 

Both the protest, which featured more than 2,000 people, and the apparent attempt to tamp it down illustrate the heightened importance school issues likely will play in this year's statewide elections, experts said.  

And it also may signal that school politics have changed slightly in just four years, with the emphasis shifting from a property-tax cap to the Common Core academic standards and teacher evaluations.

We are seeing increasingly desperate moves by Cuomo and his people to try and avoid public protests over his education policies, increasingly desperate moves by Cuomo and his people to try and smear Rob Astorino as a cousin of Crazy Carl Paladino, increasingly desperate moves by Cuomo and his people to assuage some union members and people on the left with empty gestures like the TWU/MTA parachute jive and increasingly desperate moves by Cuomo and his people to get some positive media coverage.

It had long appeared like Cuomo was impervious to political challenge, either by various constituencies and stakeholders around the state looking to take him on over his policies or by politicians in both parties looking to do political battle with him.

But it is increasingly clear from these increasingly desperate moves by Cuomo that he truly is worried that this November's election will be much closer than anybody thinks it could (or should) be, given Cuomo's ostensible political clout and sizable campaign warchest - especially if a viable third party challenge is mounted against him.

We're getting more and more evidence that the once-vaunted Andrew M. Cuomo and his legacy of "Either Go Along With Him Or You're Roadkill!" is not so vaunted anymore.