Some liberal commentators claim that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s smaller than anticipated reelection margin is bad news for him. They are completely wrong.
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One of the few watched political stories on Tuesday was in New York where Governor Andrew Cuomo easily won the Democratic primary for governor, which means he will likely go on to be reelected in November. Because New York City is the media capital of America and Cuomo is seen as a possible contender for the presidency in 2016, the primary campaign received a lot of attention in the national media.
But it also received attention by a good deal of liberal political writers and pundits because it was seen as a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party. The thinking went like this: Cuomo represented a compromise form of liberalism that pursued things like marriage equality on one hand, while still remaining cozy with Wall Street and largely being the tool of the rich on the other. Cuomo’s challenger, an unknown law professor named Zephyr Teachout (what a great political name!), represented a new “populist” style of liberal politics personified in the Occupy Movement of years gone past.
The way a lot of liberal writers are trying to spin it, the fact that Cuomo won the nomination with “only” 62 percent of the vote was some sort of defeat for Cuomo and moderate Democratic politics as a whole. John Cassidy wrote a typical example of this line of thinking in The New Yorker:
The Democratic Party establishment survived. But Teachout and [Lieutenant Governor candidate Tim] Wu both achieved more than seemed possible a couple of months ago. By thoroughly embarrassing Cuomo, New York Democrats didn’t merely deliver a blow to whatever national aspirations he may have. They signaled to other Democrats, Hillary Clinton included, that the political center of gravity has shifted, and that a significant segment of Democratic voters won’t suffer gladly a return to the timid, pro-corporate policies of the Clinton years, which Cuomo represents.
Wait, so Cuomo suffered a blow because …he won? Oh sure I bet he would have wanted to win with 95 percent (or not face a challenger at all) but winning and advancing to the general election is all that really matters here. Yes politicians are paranoid about winning reelection; but Cuomo can easily patch things up over the next four years. Other Democratic politicians could easily think that if Governor Wall Street won easily, their relationships with business probably won’t matter either. Meanwhile, if Cuomo has eyes on the White House, well Poweshiek County is a long way from Tribeca.
In fact this whole story will probably be regarded as a political footnote by next week, that is to everyone other than New York based political writers.
If anything this election was an enormous missed opportunity for Cuomo’s liberal critics. By backing an unknown academic with little money and no political experience, they very well may have saved Cuomo’s bacon.
Sorry New York liberals, we weren’t playing horseshoes or hand grenades, we were playing politics. Close just isn’t good enough, meaning the joke’s on you.
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Photo by Craig Ruttle/AP