If that surrender is really on the table, take it!
If the Working Families Party gets
this, I would definitely take that for putting Andrew Cuomo on the WFP ballot line:
As for the contours of the deal, they would appear to include a shift by the governor that would include declaring a new progressive agenda, expressing a newfound devotion to key planks of the party’s platform such as public financing of elections, a DREAM Act and a minimum wage increase. To overcome the problem of much of the party not trusting the governor’s word, the agenda would be unveiled at a big public event with WFP allies, perhaps as soon as this weekend, in which the governor would stand with key players of the state’s institutional left (including de Blasio) — and declare his support for it [...]
First, the united groups — including unions like 1199 and the Hotel Trades Council, which backed a Republican state Senate in recent years — would declare the need for a Democratic state Senate. For WFP members to be interested, they’d like to see the governor say he will help fund primary challenges to the Independent Democratic Caucus — a band of breakaway Democrats now caucusing with Republicans — with millions of dollars if they don’t rejoin the party in earnest.
This is all "insider" sources and all, so take with appropriate grain of salt. But the report says that the deal would include:
- Cuomo having to kiss Bill de Blasio's butt in public, along that of the WFP. That base humiliation alone might be worth the price of admission.
- Cuomo pledges support for state DREAM Act and minimum wage increase, both of which would dramatically improve the lives of people in the state.
- But how does he get that through the Senate? Well, he gives up his tacit support for the turncoat Democrats who have given control of the chamber to minority Republicans. He either tells them "rejoin the Democrats, or I'll back the primaries against you." Of course, we still back those primary challenges, but regardless the outcome, the GOP is left in the cold. Advantage the good guys, again.
- Public financing of elections is a big deal. The governor promised it, then he decided to only apply it to one of his political Democratic enemies, and only this election. A recommitment to real public financing would be fantastic.
All in all, this would be a stunning surrender by the governor, and a stunning victory by the Working Families Party. If these reports are true and that's what's on the table, take the deal.
