The Cuomo challenge

by Jerry Kremer  

   

 

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has finally announced his candidacy for the position of Governor after many months of anticipation. There is nothing surprising about his agenda for 2011 but it's bad news not just for Republican officeholders but for Democrats as well.

 

Cuomo has adopted many of the pledges that all of the announced Republican contenders would have trumpeted. He has embraced tax caps, campaign finance and ethics reform, consolidation of state functions, reducing the size of government and has opposed more state borrowing.

 

The Cuomo platform has the familiar tone of former President Bill Clinton's promises. Clinton was a master at co-opting the Republican agenda and it is no surprise that Cuomo, who has had plenty of time to prepare for his coming out party, has effectively pulled the rug out from under Rick Lazio and Steve Levy.

 

In the next week the Republican wannabes will proclaim that they can do it better. But Cuomo has seized the populist high ground and as Attorney General he has already proven he can get things done. Lots of things can happen in the months to come but absent some chaotic event, Cuomo faces no real challenge to his November election.

 

For the Democrats, Cuomo's announcement is a mixed bag. The party is starving for a fresh message after two years of missed opportunities on the part of Gov. David Paterson. Democrats may be trembling in Washington, but with a two-to-one enrollment margin in New York, all they needed was a new contender and, in Cuomo, that have gotten the face they need.

 

Incumbent members of the state Assembly and state Senate have a more challenging headache. They wanted a new person at the top of their ticket but Cuomo threatens to upset policies that have been around for over a hundred years.

 

There is nothing more sacred to office holders than the chance to redraw their district lines, an opportunity that comes but once every ten years. Each political party wants to make their incumbents safe from challenges but Cuomo has a different idea.

 

He intends to push for an independent redistricting commission to draw future lines, which is the Albany equivalent of root canal work.

 

Besides promising to take away political protection from incumbents, Cuomo will be circulating a pledge form asking candidates to sign onto his reform agenda. Reminiscent of the Republican Contract with America, Cuomo intends to put his own fellow candidates on the hot spot by threatening to oppose them if they don't sign on to his New NY Agenda.

 

If that isn't enough to make the party in power nauseous, Cuomo had promised to dramatically limit the influence of lobbying groups who give away millions of campaign dollars. Campaign dollars are the mother's milk of politics and reform of that system is a direct threat to the party in power.

Win, lose, and draw on mini-Tuesday

by Anthony Figliola  

   

 Long Island Business News (May 20, 2010) 

 

Republicans, Democrats and even tea party believers were watching Tuesday's elections in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Arkansas viewing it as a litmus test for November's midterm elections.  All three groups had to be a little disappointed.

 

In Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, Democrat Mark Critz, a former Congressional staffer defeated Republican Tim Burns in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by the late Rep. John Murtha.  Democrats were able to hold onto the seat in spite of a recent poll that showed President Obama's approval rating at 35 percent in a district that John McCain carried in 2008.

 

For Democrats this election holds out hope that they can still keep many at their seats and perhaps the anti-establishment trend advancing by the tea party movement might not be strong enough for Republican's to take back the House.

 

For Republicans, things just keep getting worse.  In Kentucky, the state Republican Party led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, failed to defeat newcomer Rand Paul in the state's Senate primary. Paul, who had the backing of the tea party walloped his opponent, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

 

Paul attributes his win to the fact that people are tired of the status quo. However, the road ahead will be tough for Paul as a recent polling memo, reported that 53 percent of Grayson supporters would not vote for him because of his tea party leanings. That has to help the Democratic candidate.

 

The Democratic primary fight for U.S. Senate in Arkansas ended in a draw between incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Lt. Governor Bill Walter, forcing a run-off election that is scheduled for June 8. However, polls have Republican candidate Rep. John Boozman ahead of both Democrats by almost 20 points in the general election.

 

Tuesday's elections uncovered great strife within the national Republican Party. Instead of working as a unit, they have broken off into smaller divisions and have begun to eliminate their brethren in divisive primary fights. But it also reinvigorated the Democrats and gave them hope that they can still win in November in spite of Obama's low approval ratings and their votes on healthcare.

 

The question that eludes both parties is how will these newly minted Republican/Tea Party candidates fare in a general election and how much of an impact will "yes" votes on healthcare and the stimulus money have on Democratic incumbents.

 

For the Republicans the road ahead got a little bumpier. For the Democrats the road ahead has one or two less potholes, but there are still quite a few.  And for the tea party, they still need to prove they are a real organization and not just a group of disenfranchised Republican's angry with their party, so for now the road ahead is a dirt road.

Corporate America just doesn't get it - "All politics is local"

by Anthony M. Figliola Big companies like Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Wal-Mart and others are finding out that their existing lobbying efforts are not as effective as they once were.  Government advocacy is no longer just about one-on-one meetings with public officials.  It's about educating the public and creating grassroots pressure utilizing traditional and non-traditional methods. Major restrictions on lobbyists have frustrated many corporations leaving them with few options on how to successfully advance their cause. Looking for solutions they turn to old-fashioned lobbying as their solution, only to fail.  The answer to their dilemma is simple - develop a grassroots strategy. Since the advent of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the public now has direct access to their elected leaders without going through a gatekeeper and can influence public policy like never before.  The playing field has been leveled and access is available on the same field as other special interests. Corporations must move past traditional high-powered Washington lobbyists with hallway access to elected leaders.  Many corporations are coming to learn that there are just so many personal favors that a K-street firm can call in from a handful of legislators. Businesses must adopt a broader strategy that enlists the support of those outside the Beltway with real interests in their organization's legislative goals. There are a handful of companies that do grassroots and some have even mastered it.  Philip Morris, many years back developed the most successful, corporate grassroots lobbying operation in America.  They believed that "all politics is local," and that any successful operation must have a bottom-up approach. Others have copied the tobacco industry's outreach and have enlisted outside allies for their efforts. Careful targeting of potential friends is the key to a good grassroots operation, plus having the right people in the trenches helps too! The Empire Government Strategies team has used this strategy successfully to help pass legislation; oppose government regulations and a variety of other victories at both the federal and state level. Most U.S. corporations focus on hiring a few top lobbyists who tell them to spend....spend... spend... in the hopes that their contributions will counteract any opposition from the public.  As evident by the current push in Congress for financial and campaign finance reform, spending on the few does not work. There is a better way and many groups from organized labor to environmentalists have been mastering this effort for years.  If corporate America truly wants to remain in the game it needs to adapt to the outside world and adopt a comprehensive grassroots approach. The days of using lobbyists as door-to-door salesmen are over.