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.