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Thread: Why I Don't Know Who I Will Vote for Governor

  1. #1
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Default Why I Don't Know Who I Will Vote for Governor

    This is an election year for NY - we're going to be electing a new governor (among other positions) and the politicking has been going on for months, now.

    And at the moment, while everybody and his uncle can name who will be the next governor - Andrew Cuomo, if you've been hiding under a rock - he has yet to announce his candidacy.

    And at this point, it's starting to hork me off to the point where I'm not sure I'm willing to grant Mr. Cuomo my vote.


    Up until the middle of February this year I knew who I was going to vote for for governor: I'd been pretty impressed with David Paterson, and felt that while he had had some real difficult leadership challenges in his time, he'd done better that most governors I remember would have been able to do.

    Alas, then a story broke about how a long-time Paterson aide had been involved in a domestic violence dispute, and the State Police had been intimidating witnesses, and Paterson himself had called the alleged victim to get her to drop charges.

    The State Police, especially in Albany, have been showing themselves far too eager to get involved in politics than I like, but no smoking gun linking Paterson to what they were doing has been even alleged that I recall. But even if Paterson is as innocent of the State Police interference as the news stories suggest, the fact he'd try to intimidate a woman making a domestic violence charge is completely unacceptable to me.

    And it was enough that Paterson announced he wasn't going to run for re-election, after all.

    Even before this the way news was being reported in the major media was pretty interesting, and damned biased, if you want my opinion. In almost every story that came out the governor was the only person named as being accountable for the condition of the state government: "Governor Paterson and the Legislature..." Having this happen once or twice wouldn't have been remarkable. When it's happening with almost every story, even of things like the utter dysfunction within the State Legislature, it got pretty obvious, and odious.

    When Paterson's scandal broke this Feb, one of the stories in the local paper about it included a list of all the *ahem* scandals during his administration. Which was amusing to me, since it boiled down to: He wasn't elected to governor, Elliot Spitzer was; the NYS Senate had a leadership meltdown last year; and IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT that things got so embarrassing for Caroline Kennedy when she tried to get "her uncle's Senate seat."

    So the mainstream media, lead by the Times had been gunning for him for years.

    But that's not the point of this rant. Instead it's about the fact that Andrew Cuomo has been carefully, and IMNSHO, deliberately avoiding speaking up about the mess in the state. Right now the state budget is 15 days late, and growing later, we're starting the fiscal year with a $9 billion deficit, because of last year's 'miracle' budget, and everyone and their uncle is shouting that any cuts have to come from somewhere else. It seems to me that if one were looking to, say, fill a leadership position (rather than simply gratify one's pride with a more prestigious job) this would be a time to demonstrate one's ability to show leadership ability.

    But anything that he says will be guaranteed to piss someone off, and likely someone powerful within the Democratic party.

    We don't dare actually blame the Democratically controlled Assembly for anything, nor even the Democratically controlled Senate.


    So, the Dems are pining all their hopes on a coward who can't stand up for anything if it might offend someone. And can't imagine that will piss of a substantial portion of the electorate.


    The Republicans have three people in the race, now: and one has just been revealed to be a really vile racist scum, and proud of it. Rick Lazio, a current State Senator, which rules him incompetent for higher office; and Suffolk County Executive, Steven A. Levy.

    But with the embracing of homophobia as a unifying value with last year's Senatorial leadership fight, the Republican party will have a lot to do to get my support.

    But, at this point, I'll be damned if I vote for someone so desperate for a seat he's afraid of showing he can do the goddamned job.

  2. #2
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by OtakuLoki View post
    But, at this point, I'll be damned if I vote for someone so desperate for a seat he's afraid of showing he can do the goddamned job.

    It seems that while the majority of the flock doesn't care whether Andrew Cuomo is willing to show any leadership qualities, there are at least some other people who share my disgust for his continuing silence.

    What particularly annoys me is that for the past 27 years, IIRC, the NYS budget has been passed late 25 times. While the deficit that is being faced this year is unprecedented, the dynamic of the part-time kleptocrats stalling to avoid actually taking a stand is long-standing. Part of the governor's job then is to cajole, browbeat, and intimidate the fuckers into staying at work long enough to actually pass a budget.

    And if Cuomo isn't willing to stand up and criticize anyone, now, why should the electorate believe that he'll do it next year?

  3. #3
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Loki, I sympathize a lot. I just went through yet another election where both candidates were terrible (at least to me). Any idea at all why Cuomo is playing coy? Who would the Republicans even run?

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Both houses of the legislature are nominally Democrat controlled - I believe that means that there is a some reason for Cuomo's strategists to feel that any criticism of either house, and especially their leadership, will degrade Cuomo's support from the party come November.

    As for the Republicans, I think Rick Lazio is the best of the lot of the announced candidates, but that's not saying much. I was wrong to tar him with the position of State Senator. Still, his claim to state-wide fame is mostly from his failed attempt to challenge Hillary's bid for the Senate back in 2000. Even if he did far better than anyone had expected, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. And of course, who knows how the primaries will work out. (And because I refuse to join either party, I can't participate in them.) It's possible the Tea Party idiots will keep supporting Paladino.
    Last edited by OtakuLoki; 13 May 2010 at 01:06 PM.

  5. #5
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by OtakuLoki View post
    Both houses of the legislature are nominally Democrat controlled - I believe that means that there is a some reason for Cuomo's strategists to feel that any criticism of either house, and especially their leadership, will degrade Cuomo's support from the party come November.

    As for the Republicans, I think Rick Lazio is the best of the lot of the announced candidates, but that's not saying much. I was wrong to tar him with the position of State Senator. Still, his claim to state-wide fame is mostly from his failed attempt to challenge Hillary's bid for the Senate back in 2000. Even if he did far better than anyone had expected, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. And of course, who knows how the primaries will work out. (And because I refuse to join either party, I can't participate in them.) It's possible the Tea Party idiots will keep supporting Paladino.
    You can always join and then do the paperwork to become Independent again. If a primary moves me enough that is my new plan.

    It is tough for Cuomo in one regard, once he announces the mudslinging can really begin. It might just be politically safer to wait as long as possible.

    I don't follow NY politics close enough, is there more than one Cuomo brother? Wasn't one of them or this one involved in a dirty real estate deal at some point? I was never a big fan of Mario Cuomo but I never had a dislike for him either.

  6. #6
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    You can always join and then do the paperwork to become Independent again. If a primary moves me enough that is my new plan.
    Well, for one reason - by voting in a primary I swell the official roll numbers for the party in question. AIUI that number is used to adjust the state funding that the major parties get, and the other various state support they get. And I frankly refuse to allow my name to be linked with either of them for that purpose.

    It is tough for Cuomo in one regard, once he announces the mudslinging can really begin. It might just be politically safer to wait as long as possible.
    Of course. But he's going to have to face it next year, anyways. All his silence is buying now is a temporary advantage in one election. And it's an election that everyone, and his uncle, believes (with good reason) that is already sewn up in his favor. IOW, he's sacrificing IMNSHO any appearance of his ability to lead or make potentially damaging decisions for the sake of a tactical advantage that he's not likely to need.

    Which bothers me on several levels. Most closely tied to the current budget mess - last year the three men in a closed room gave us a budget with a minimum of haggling. Heck, it was even only about two to three weeks late! But this no-debate budget, this budget that was worked out between the Democratic Assembly Speaker, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, and the Democratic Governor, increased spending by approximately 9% - even as revenue projections were already suggesting that the state was going to be losing on the order of twenty billion dollars of revenue.

    This abortion of a feel-good budget was praised to the electorate, since the Democrats were all in agreement about what's best for the state, and thus there was no need for any silly public debate on the abortion sandwich they handed us. In the event the revenue shortfall was closer to thirty billion dollars than twenty. Which is part of where the current nine billion dollar deficit that the kleptocrats are trying to close in Albany comes from. Starting last summer Paterson began trying to get the brain dead idiots in Albany to try to cut the budget before things got to catastrophic proportions, and they kept refusing to do anything about it.

    In other words, I firmly believe that a refusal of the executive to face down the legislative leadership is at the root of much of the current problems the state is facing. In which case, any candidate who fails to show the intestinal fortitude to point out that the goat slime in Albany made this mess by refusing to face reality is someone whom I believe will be unable to actually perform the duties of governor.

    No matter who his father might be, nor how popular he might be with the electorate.

    I don't follow NY politics close enough, is there more than one Cuomo brother? Wasn't one of them or this one involved in a dirty real estate deal at some point? I was never a big fan of Mario Cuomo but I never had a dislike for him either.
    No clue.

  7. #7
    no do gets SeeOhTwo's avatar
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    Cuomo would be an idiot to wade into this budget mess. He can't lead because he's not the governor. I really don't know that it bodes poorly for a Cuomo administration.

    He's a smart politician. Just keep getting positive press taking down corrupt politicos and Wall-Streeters and wait until the last moment to announce. Makes a lot of sense to me.

  8. #8
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    If he's too fucking chicken, now, when none of the budget is his fault, what makes you think he'll take them on next year? In this environment going after corrupt Wall-Streeters is always going to look good. Whether he secures a conviction, or not. Hey, it worked for Spitzer and Guiliani, after all.

    But going after Espada could be the result of a long standing investigation to abuses that never occur with any other pet projects of state legislators. Or it could be an olive branch to the Democratic machine - using his office to beat on the surviving asshole from the 'coup' last year. Given that Cuomo won't even say that the fucking kleptocrats should at least stay in session 'til they have a budget I know which side of that choice I think is more likely.

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