The video clip below shows Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul pretending Zephyr Teachout and Timothy Wu don't exist. It's a great example of the way Cuomo and other corporate DINOs treat the rest of us on so many issues; we just don't exist when it comes to responding to what WE want, not when it would interfere with his ambitions or the wishes of his big money donors.
(The clip comes courtesy of an email from Bold Progressives.org)
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The Cuomo Record
Andrew Cuomo is trying to ignore Teachout and Wu to death. The same is true of the media too much of the time: deliberate failure to see what's right in front of them. Teachout and Wu are getting a lot more attention than 'fringe' candidates usually get, but it's still not as much as they deserve. And it's not like they have Andrew Cuomo's $35 million war chest. This NPR story notes the surprising support behind Teachout and Wu. The leading comment explains part of reason:
Will Harper • a day ago
Andrerw Cuomo is not a democrat. He's another New York politician who uses party affiliation as a club pass and once inside the club does whatever he wants regardless. The once meaningful designations of democrat or republican are not much more than a deception now. There is only one party and that is the $$$ party.
Let's give Andrew Cuomo some credit: he did work to get
marriage equality through the NY State Legislature. He did get the
NY SAFE Act through for sane gun policies. (This also created
a cottage industry for Repeal the SAFE Act/Dump Cuomo lawn signs.)
Now let's take it back. Cuomo has repeatedly been on the wrong side of too many issues and broken too many promises. He's been a big friend to Wall Street, fighting progressive economic policies from the beginning. He allowed legislators to draw up gerrymandered districts, after promising to veto them. He's kept the State Senate in Republican hands by allowing renegade DINOs to caucus with them. (This gives Cuomo the whip hand in Albany power politics.) He's refused to either ban or endorse fracking, keeping the state dangling over an important issue. He's done little to nothing about the oil trains running through NY State, allowing DEC to sidestep the issue. He's been anti-labor, and on the wrong side of education 'reform'. He hand-picked a Lt. Governor candidate in Kathy Hochul who boasts of how much she appeals to Republicans, has NRA approval, and voted to repeal Obamacare a number of times while in Congress.
And let's not forget Cuomo derailed his own task force he promised would root out corruption in Albany, NY - once they started following the evidence back to him. It's a scandal in its own right, one the Feds might follow up. Andrew Cuomo has been compared unfavorably to his father, Mario Cuomo with the judgment twice as arrogant and only half as smart. His governing style is perceived as built on a culture of fear; he neither forgets nor forgives. (This is the reason for the sudden flurry of endorsements for Cuomo/Hochul - he's twisting arms and calling in favors.)
Cuomo's Big Problem
All of this comes into play tomorrow: New York State Primary Day. A peculiarity in NY State election law (a truly Byzantine body of legal miss-mash) allows separate primary voting for Governor and Lt. Governor candidates. By one scenario, Cuomo could find himself paired on the Democratic line with Timothy Wu for the general election in November. (It's also possible the DINOs keeping the State Senate under GOP control could get knocked off.) What worries Cuomo is that primary elections normally have little turn out, so a strongly motivated group in large enough numbers could upset a lot of apple carts. Teachout is not considered likely to upset Cuomo, but the more votes she gets, the bigger the slap it is seen at Cuomo - and Cuomo has a LOT of people he's royally pissed off, including some of the bigger unions in the state. There's small comfort for Cuomo in that primary voting is limited by party registration; only registered Democrats will be able to vote on the Democratic slate. Cuomo and Hochul are on other party lines, but if Wu takes the Democratic slot, they won't be able to combine those votes in November.
Teachout and Wu, in Their Own Words
Teachout and Wu have both been doing what they can to build name recognition and get media attention, but New York State is an expensive market to run in. WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany has done extended interviews with both of them. Alan Chartock spoke with Teachout for 25 minutes in July. (Audio here.) Timothy Wu got almost a full hour on September 4. (Audio here) Wu gets more attention (due to his NY Times endorsement), but both of them have a lot to say and it's a breath of fresh air.
If the Tea Party has an outsize influence on the Republican Party, it's because the people behind them get them to turn out for primary elections where their votes can have an outsize impact. They know that primary elections are often where the real opportunities lie, since by the time the general election comes around, district demographics can pretty much determine the outcome. Even if their candidates don't win the primary (or can't win in the general election), they still end up shaping the outcome - because all of the candidates have to respond to the voters who are likely to show up.
This is a lesson Progressives need to take to heart. To quote from Bujold, "The world is made by the people who show up for the job." Tuesday in New York will turn on who shows up.