I’m more than disappointed about Cynthia Nixon’s loss to Andrew Cuomo in last night’s primary; I’m disillusioned with the Democratic Party that endorsed him and with politics in general. Virtually everything I’ve ever learned about Andrew Cuomo has further underscored his villainy. This Democratic governor accepts funding from conservative monsters like Donald Trump and the Koch brothers. He’s used his power to empower Republicans, enrich the wealthy and he’s extremely talented at turning modest progressive victories into PR bonanzas for himself.
Conceptually, I understand that voting for anyone other than Cuomo in the general election increases the risk of a Republican take-over which would be disastrous. I know that Cuomo’s father was widely despised the last time he ran for governor and wound up losing to a Republican; conditions seem ripe for history to repeat itself but I’m having a hard time convincing myself that it actually matters. People will inevitably compare this situation to what progressives faced in the 2016 presidential election but I think that’s apples to oranges. For all her flaws, I never EVER got the impression that Hillary Clinton was actually a conservative operative seeking to wage class warfare on behalf of the super-rich. I was angry about systemic disadvantages and dirty tricks my preferred-candidate had faced in the primary, I disagreed with Clinton on many issues and worried some of her policy priorities might cause significant harm but I never entertained voting against her because she was obviously much better than the alternative.
In the case of Andrew Cuomo, it’s not at all obvious to me that he’s better than his Republican opponent. It’s amazing to me that I’ve actually typed that sentence — especially in 2018 after seeing the Republican Party pivot towards being openly fascist. But I am really having a hard time thinking of what a Republican governor would do that Andrew Cuomo hasn’t already done. I guess a Republican governor would probably say some openly bigoted things on TV which would embolden other bigots; Cuomo hasn’t done that sort of thing for years. What else?
There’s a lot of Democrats around the country I dislike and have criticized viciously but I literally cannot think of any other Democratic candidate I would be more reluctant to vote for in a general election. Help me out in the comments with some horror stories about Cuomo’s Republican opponent or by detailing good things Cuomo has actually done (rather than simply taken credit for).