The list grows longer with each passing month concerning Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lack of appeal to progressives in the Democratic Party. He was very lukewarm about pushing for a ‘Minimum Wage’ increase the last session. Behind the scenes he appears to be backing a NYS ‘Coalition’ with the IDC and Dem. Sen. Jeff Klein. Gov. Cuomo continues to tolerate Sheldon Silver as Speaker of the Assembly, when he’s tainted from the Vito Lopez Sexual harassment payout to victims with taxpayer money. He continues to sell out Unions every chance he gets and that won’t be tolerated any longer. And always this lingering feeling that he’s in fact governing as a Republican and is a Democrat in name only, when you examine his budget cutting approach to improving NYS’s economy; where ideas for growth and jobs ar...e lacking. He was also very non-supportive of certain Democrats in State Senate races, avoiding using Party as the main criteria for supporting people like County Legislator Amy Tressider who ran as a Democrat in District 48. Amy needed his support as an underfunded candidate facing Republican Pattie Ritchie. Ritchie ran on being so close to Gov. Cuomo and was invited to events that Amy Tressider wasn’t last election.
A few weeks ago I made a comment on Capitol Tonight's blog that focused on Gov. Cuomo looking for an out strategy to in fact run as a Republican, if Hillary Clinton looks like she can't be stopped from gaining the Democratic nomination in 2016. I question whether Cuomo could get the Independent nod, because I suspect NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg may commit to that, before Gov. Cuomo ever has a chance too. And Cuomo doesn't have the money to self finance early in the campaign like the Mayor does if the NYC Mayor decides to run as an Independent. Cuomo is forced then to seriously look at becoming the ‘Republican’ nominee for President in 2016, provided the Republican Party moves to the Center and abandons the Tea Party, at which time Cuomo could have a real allure as Conservative Democrat looking for a new home after 2014.
Yes an awful lot of domino's have to fall the right way, but it still grabs my imagination as a possibility for the Governor, who really wants to govern as a Republican and not a Progressive Democrat.
Mike Flynn 'Middle Class Mike'.