Sunday, October 12, 2014

Andrew Cuomo Hates The "Extreme Left" - But There's A Place For You "Extreme Leftists"

Any members of the Working Families Party looking to vote for Andrew Cuomo this November, here's how he feels about you:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo , whose center-right policies have alienated him from much of his party’s progressive base, attacks the “extreme left of the Democratic Party” in his new memoir, according to a report in the New York Times.

While his father Mario Cuomo’s 1984 address at the Democratic National Convention served as a liberal rallying cry, Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly found himself starkly at odds with the liberal wing of the party. Although the governor signed marriage equality and gun safety legislation into law and has staked out a robustly pro-choice position, he has also slashed corporate taxes, capped property taxes, maneuvered to keep his own party from controlling the New York State Senate, lent conditional support to fracking, and earned plaudits from the right-wing National Review for his conservative economic agenda. There’s also the federal probe into Cuomo’s disbanding of his much-heralded anti-corruption commission, which Cuomo had touted as evidence of his commitment to good government.

Capitalizing on progressive discontent with Cuomo’s policies and his sudden dissolution of the Moreland anti-corruption commission, challenger Zephyr Teachout managed to secure 34 percent of the vote against Cuomo in New York’s Democratic primary last month.

Given his center-right track record, it’s hardly unsurprising that Cuomo is no fonder of the left than the left is of him. According to the Times – which got its hands on a copy of his new memoir, All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life – Cuomo rips the “extreme left” in the book, particularly for what he depicts as its hostility to the rich. Leftists, Cuomo writes, “speak of punitively raising taxes on the rich and transferring the money to the poor” and seek to “demonize those who are very wealthy.”

In short, Cuomo loves the so-called "free market" (which is of course rigged for the already wealthy and powerful), worships wealth and power and loves himself some rich people.

Everybody else?

You're either "extreme left" or "extreme right" and he hates you and thinks there's no place in New York for you.

Fortunately if you're on the "extreme left" (i.e., not a worshiper of wealth, as Cuomo is), you have a choice this Election Day:

ALBANY — The only thing standing between Gov. Cuomo and his hopes for a resounding victory on Election Day might be a 61-year-old United Parcel Service worker from Syracuse.

Howie Hawkins has taken a leave of absence from his job unloading UPS trucks to run as the Green Party candidate for governor.

Casting himself as the “progressive choice” in the race, he has gained traction among Democrats unhappy with Cuomo for embracing tax cuts and charter schools, and for not banning fracking, a gas-drilling technique.

“Cuomo is weak on his left,” Hawkins said. “I am working hard to earn those votes and I am hearing from a lot of those people that they are coming to me.”

...

In a Quinnipiac poll released last week, Hawkins received close to 10% of the vote. That could deprive Cuomo of the wow-factor landslide he craves, and, at the same time, strengthen the hand of the political left.

The electorate’s “mood is not good and what Howie Hawkins provides is a vehicle for the protest vote,” said Nassau County Democratic chief Jay Jacobs.

 Vote Howie Hawkins on Election Day.

4 comments:

  1. I consider myself just slightly to the left of center on some issues and slightly to the right on others....but there is no way in hell Astorino or Cuomo will get my vote---Hawkins it is!

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    1. There you go. Another potential Cuomo voter bites the dust.

      I'm actually happy to help out both Hawkins and Astorino in this election.

      My goal is try and keep Cuomo below 50% on Election Day.

      That means Astorino winning 40%+ of the vote and Hawkins getting 10%+.

      That's a tough nut to crack. Hawkins is polling at 9%, but Astorino is nowhere near 40% and I am not convinced that Hawkins can hit double digits on Election Day.

      Sometimes these Dems who say they want to protest the corporatists end up voting corporatist Dem on Election Day. That's what happened with Obama in 2012.

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  2. I will reluctantly vote for Hawkins. His running mate, Brian Jones, alienated me and other supporters of Israel with his Gaza comments. I would embrace Hawkins wholeheartedly if it wasn't for Brian Jones.

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    1. I understand. I try and keep a streamlined focus on education, education policy and the politics related to both for that very reason here at Perdido Street School blog. Occasionally Obama kills somebody with a drone bomb or Dick Cheney says we need to invade (insert country here) and that sets me off and I write something about foreign policy. But for the most part, I like to keep things focused on education and the politics that affect students, teachers and schools.

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