The most obvious culprit of Cuomo’s troubles is his aggressive style. “Everyone here is afraid of him,” said one Democratic strategist, explaining why he (like several others who spoke to msnbc) asked that his name not be used.
What looked to voters like ruthlessly pragmatic problem-solving in better times now takes on the darker cast of shady backroom power politics. “His style is an asset until it’s a liability,” said a former aide, who also asked not to be named.
If Cuomo turns around to find he’s been abandoned, it may be because he’s earned a reputation of kneecapping the people who are supposed to be his friends when he perceives a threat. As secretary of housing and urban development, Cuomo allegedly tried to intimidate the department’s inspector general, according to a harassment complaint she filed.
His predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, one of a long list of New York Democrats who have tangled with Cuomo, once called him “the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there.” Cuomo has fought with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over control of a Wall Street settlement worth more than $600 million, organized a public rally against New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s education policy, and made a deal with Senate Republicans that many Democrats say sabotaged the party from holding a majority in the upper change.
Can't imagine why so few Dems have come to Andrew's defense when he sticks a shiv into everybody he associates with if they don't give him exactly what he wants.
His style worked wonders for most of the first term, but now that the going has gotten rough, he's got no friends to call on to help him - just associates who need him as much as he needs them (i.e., the Moreland Commissioners who spoke out in support of him) and his henchmen in the administration.
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