What’s Pulling Cuomo Left? Could It be ‘the Cynthia Effect’?

Both candidates are awful.

Does the population of Brownsville know about Andy's relationship with the hasidim in Boro Park? He has to make a choice as to whom he will pander: the Trump-loving hasidim or the rest of NYC. I'm voting for someone named "Nixon" (teehee).

Come on, just look where AC is from: motorcycles and fast cars from Queens. Does anyone believe he really is genuine with the leftist rhetoric?

Every time I hear Cuomo speak he sounds irritated that he has to explain anything at all, everyone listening should just agree without any discussion. He is arrogant, impatient and has no compassion or empathy for listeners (or anyone for that matter). And now that Nixon is in the race he pulls the democrats in line instead of the siding with the republicans. Pllleaze... as if we are stupid and don’t see his maneuvering for what it is. His mantra: “Listen to what I say and ignore what I do.”

Cynthia Nixon? Hahaha! I’d sooner vote for Trump.

I am not a fan of celebrities running for public office. It's all about name recognition. Being well-intentioned isn't enough and the results can be disastrous (Reagan, trump, etc.). But the value of Nixon's run is precisely that she can pull Cuomo to the left. That was an advantage of Sanders running against Hillary. Democrats tempted to run on a watered-down, feckless centrist position that no one relates to are forced to take actual positions and leave themselves hanging for accountability. I am one of those who believe that Democrats need to "move left" which is to say, go back to appealing to a wider spectrum of the population who are feeling their powerlessness which is where the left used to live and made huge improvements to society because of it. (There are "elites" who have some concern for those less fortunate, and actual elites who don't. Roosevelt/trump.) The question is, can Cuomo and others who are so pushed frame their left-er positions effectively? That has been the Democrats' biggest failing: trying to not say what they hope people will assume. republicans have never had that problem, and look where we (you) are.

Cuomo will shift left in the primary to eliminate Nixon, then move center for the general. This has never, ever happened before in politics.

Cuomo pulled the plug on the Moreland commission to protect his corrupt administration. Records and files were taken away in trucks by then US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara. Joseph Percoco, Coumo's executive deputy secretary, longtime confidant, and top aide, was found guilty less than 2 months ago of 3 corruption charges, including soliciting and accepting more than $300,000 in bribes. Trump did Cuomo the greatest of favors in firing Bharara. In 2016 Cuomo tried to ram through a budget stealing money from New Yorkers and giving it to billionaire donors. Cuomo only backed down because Democrats in the State Assembly resisted. It was those local Democrats who represented us. Without them Cuomo would have gotten his way and passed the most regressive and unjust state budget. Cuomo did the same in attempting to slash funding for CUNY. There was no good reason for it; independent studies repeatedly showed CUNY was not only very economically run, it was a bedrock of affordable higher education in the state and one of the few true avenues for economic advancement remaining for hard working New Yorkers of limited means. For nearly 8 years Cuomo not only refused to do anything to fix the subways, he repeatedly took money from the system. In 2016, he yanked away money already allocated for subway repairs and gave it to three upstate ski resorts. No one should fool themselves into thinking this narcissistic and corrupt man cares for anything but himself.

Cuomo's environmental record should be part of this discussion. He has talked a good game; his heart may even be in the right place, but his record must be better: no new pipeline infrastructure, rigorous efficiency standards in more than name, and upgrading of the electric grid--a past and up to this point an unfulfilled promise.

Cynthia: Keep your foot on his neck. He's not a Democrat in any fashion I recognize.

Nixon wants to up the 2% property tax cap. People had better wise up or no one will be left in the cesspool state of NY unless absolutely necessary. Besides deBlasio and socialist Nixon, and Cumo the state is doomed. Wonder how long till it is a welfare state.

Plain and simply, Actors need to stay out of Government. Two horrible examples of Actors who were or are in US Government: Ronald Reagan Donald Trump

What's Pulling Cuomo Left? Oh, please. Haven't people at the Times noticed over the last 40 years - primarily since the creation of the double-dealing "Democratic Leadership Council" - that democrats in a primary always run to the left, but in the general election they appeal to the right? They need the liberal democrat vote in the closed primary and then they court the republican vote in the general. Remember what Sen. Schumer said about the presidential election after the primaries: “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.” We all see how well that worked out... What Cuomo is doing now is a perfect example of the Bill Clinton "Triangulation," summed up as Promise To The Left But Deliver To The Right. This time around, we must never forget two things: Cuomo is a Clinton democrat - a member of Bill Clinton's cabinet - and he gets big support from the major republican donors: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2014/08/states-big... "State's biggest G.O.P. donors migrated to Cuomo" What Cuomo is doing is the very definition of Clintonian Triangulation. https://emcphd.wordpress.com

I don't love the idea of celebrities running for office, but in this case I'm thinking about making an exception when I cast my vote. Cuomo is better than a Republican, but that's not saying much. He protects the IDC and bottles up progressive legislation to empower himself. He pretends to be a liberal but simply isn't. He punishes eight million New York City residents because he is having a pathetic, mutually immature feud with our mayor. He attacks our public education system and is single handedly responsible for the continued underfunding of CUNY and SUNY. He is a major reason why our subways are a mess. I'm so sick of him and his attempts to position himself for a presidential run.

Cuomo is a politician like most pols, he holds his finger up to see which way the wind is blowing. Since Cynthia Nixon entered the race, Cuomo feels the wind is blowing her direction. If Cuomo wins this election, those who believe he will move toward progressivism hold up their hands...I have a bridge I'd like to sell them.

Cynthia Nixon is not Trump. Trump was a businessman who lived his entire life about making money and doing anything he could to make money. Cynthia Nixon is like Ronald Reagan. An actor who then used his fame to stand up and fight for what he believed in. And his first political experience was when he ran for Governor of the biggest state in the country and did fine. The main difference between Ronald Reagan and Cynthia Nixon is that their philosophies of government. But I have no doubt that Nixon will be as successful as Reagan in running a large state. But from a progressive philosophy. Ronald Reagan is NOT like Donald Trump. Cynthia Nixon is NOT like Donald Trump. But Nixon and Reagan similarly ran as actors. Why does the NY Times keep saying Nixon is like Trump when she is like California Gov. Ronald Reagan, perfectly competent to govern a state. Except NY is not as large as California.

Gov. Cuomo: You are a failure as a Governor and father to even think about legalizing pot. On a recent business trip in Denver Colorado, here’s what I learned: 1. The Civic Park has drug addicts buying drugs despite legalized marijuana per its Denver newspapers. 2. Crime in Denver is higher after legalization. The locals disclosed drug addiction is increasing with younger children starting to smoke the drug as preteens. They also disclosed after legalization-squatters and homeless teens flocked to Colorado. 3. Brain drain from some of the older citizens burnt out from drugs giving wrong directions-completely spaced out. 4. Car accidents are also higher after legalization. 5. One of the locals admitted most Coloradans smoke “weed” and drive. Really??? 6. Lazy brain dead teenagers smoking pot on the street. Saw a street fight break out with the police and EMS on the scene. To legalize pot is to leave a legacy of deceitful politicizing for votes harming the next generation and in polluting the streets and residences with dangerous second-hand smoke. It is to open a door to drug users addicted to marijuana, with many graduating to stronger substances. Glad to have left Colorado and good riddance to a bad culture. A Former Democrat

Mario Cuomo was a genuine person who happened to become one of the best governors of New York State. He was a thinking woman's & man's politician - a moral & ethical man who did the best he could in the slime of politics. I have no doubt that even he compromised his better angels but that's politics in our beloved state, or any state including DC. Andrew Cuomo is phony - Trump Lite - a small-minded man whose ambitions are far outweighed by his lack of conscience or recognizable moral stature. He is Mario's son by virtue of DNA but not by any ethical tie or conviction. Andrew's success comes with a small dose of concern & a huge wave of self-regard - Trump narcissism in a minor key. That Andrew Cuomo has done any good was some sort of link to his father. It hasn't held, the link is broken. I do not want Andrew Cuomo to succeed to another term. This State of New York desperately needs reform in its party politics (I speak as a Democrat) as in so much else - the State Court system, for example. That Cynthia Nixon is challenging Andrew Cuomo is not a re-play of Zephyr Teachout although I respected her & voted for her. Cynthia Nixon - not an academically trained political scientist - has enough political smarts, experience at the grassroots in education, concern for people as people & not as vote numbers, & a real passion to do good for all, to be the far better politician & governor albeit new at both. Cynthia Nixon has my vote.

Right, because Cuomo is the only politician moving to the left on these issues.

Mr. Cuomo is running scared, so much so that he's frantically trying to dump his lieutenant governor and convince her to run for Congress against a three-term Republican incumbent in a red upstate district. He's not only vulnerable on the corruption issue, especially pay-to-play on state contracts, but on how economic development and "job creation" funds are allocated. (Really now, $750 million of the so-called Buffalo Billion for just one "gigafactory," Tesla's solar boondoggle, which is still about 90 percent empty two years after it was completed!??!) The governor is feeling the heat indeed. Next month comes the sentencing of Joseph Percoco, his longtime top aide-confidant-fixer-enforcer-"second brother" on three federal bribery convictions, dovetailing with the opening of the Buffalo Billion bid-rigging trial in Manhattan whose defendants include a contractor who was a major campaign donor. Ms. Nixon needs to run a smart race -- very smart, in fact. But if she does, the 34 percent of the vote that the little-known and underfinanced Zephyr Teachout earned in the 2014 Democratic primary may turn out to be just a down payment on a big embarrassment to the governor this September, if not November, as well. To put it mildly, after eight years, Gov. Quid Pro Cuomo isn't wearing well. His "beliefs," let's say, are highly flexible; thus, the panicky flip-flopping. Even with his $30 million war chest, he could be in for a rude awakening. And the presidency? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Andrew Cuomo never boarded a train that hadn't already left the station. This man has been Governor for eight years. Didn't someone in the recent past say,"enough is enough"? Juxtapose the screen shot of Mr. Cuomo bending to kiss the hand of Senator Montgomery, and churlishly turning his back and walking away from Zephyr Teachout at the Labor Day Parade in 2014: https://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/andrew-cuomo-zephyr-teachout-para... He will do whatever he feels is politically expedient at any given time. As the WFP learned to its regret in 2014 that includes empty and broken promises. Ms. Teachout won half the counties and 35% of the vote in the 2014 Democratic Primary. My vote and that of many of my neighbors this year will be for Ms. Nixon.

Well, I long suspected Mr. Cuomo of being a DINO (Democrat in name only); he was just so comfortable with the Republicans running the state senate. So, now Mr. "Pataki light" has morphed into a PINO (progressive in name only). He makes me long for Elliott Spitzer, and that's saying something!

Governor of NY is more than just about NYC. Cynthia Nixon has ZERO experience in anything (even acting). She will not be getting my vote.

Moreland commission Moreland commission Moreland commission

it's going to be interesting to see What Percentage of Votes Ms. Nixon will receive. I don't believ she will win but i do believe she is going to embarass Mr. Cuomo with her Numbers.

What better way to make NY less competitive. NY already ranks near the bottom in economic growth. A gift to lower tax states.

Good Luck Ms Nixon. Are we tired of career politicians ? How about the Family Dynasties?

Ms. Nixon can't win a general election. And, yes, of course, let's ban plastic bags as well as all needless single use plastic items. They don't go away and they are chocking and killing to planet. The plastic garbage ring in the Pacific Ocean is now larger then France! And it's growing rapidly. This is a true crime. And almost all of it is completely unnecessary. Stop using the stuff. Please.

Andrew Cuomo, like his father Mario before him, has presidential aspirations... yet is another phony power-hungry public servant, I think. From what I've seen as a long-time New York City citizen, he is mean-spirited and doesn't seem to like the City. He certainly doesn't like our mayor and hasn't wanted to work with de Blasio on several important issues. He is/was a part of the Albany corrupt culture that now has several powerful politicians indicted or in prison. His pictured hand-kissing is a cheap gesture from a sleazy politician. Save us! Cynthia Nixon, a political virgin from the Sex in the City show, looks more promising to me.

Pulling him left? How about someone pulling him civil!

Great, another one going utopian left. Is there a Republican or Democrat running on a sensible platform? please, anybody?

Prior to Nixon, Cuomo was already playing to the far left, making Judith Clark eligible for parole. Maybe we should be lucky he didn't touch on this post-Nixon, or perhaps he'd have just set her free. (Clark was convicted of triple felony murder (two police officers and a guard) in '81 Brinks robbery Nanuet. The gang's earlier murder of another armored car guard went unaccounted for. Subsequent "good deeds" in prison have some advocating for her release.)

Cuomo: another pol who essentially has little or no core beliefs but is arrogant beyond belief. Take a poll, pander, see who your primary opponent is and adapt until the election, go negative asap (google his actress comments). Nixon: has convictions and beliefs, has NYS in mind.

Is there anyone who doubts that Andy is/was a born politician? If so, s/he either doesn't follow NY politics ... or somehow makes money off his continuation of machine politics. Ms. Nixon is the real deal - an outsider who is bright enough to hire the right people and tap into NY's nation-leading "permanent government," so that there would be NO fall-off in the proper function of a Governor - to pick a good agenda ... and (it almost goes without saying) the agenda she'd pick would be far worthier than Mr. Cuomo's whatever it takes to get me 60+% of the vote so that people will think of me as a VP possibility. I think he's wised up to the fact that he has way too much baggage to be taken seriously as a presidential possibility, so his overweening ambition leads him to hope for the 2nd most likely way to get the top job - to serve dutifully for 4-8 years and be perceived as being OWED a shot at the gold ring. WE DESERVE BETTER. Chrystie will be a punch line for years as a result of Bridgegate - what Cuomo has done and continues to do the us 8 million plus NYC residents is far worse and equally petty and ego-driven. The next time you hear about subways delayed, remember who controls the MTA and who has starved it re its NYC "obligations." Being a bully might conceivably NOT be a terrible thing - if somebody, say, focused on "draining the swamp" and took no prisoners in the process. But Cuomo is the ultimate swamp monster, so that isn't it. Just a bully, ... but NY's Gov.

He committed over a billion dollars to such frills as making Sheraton Parkway prettier and developing a system of hiking/biking trails at a time when the MTA was rapidly deteriorating. His allegiance is to the wealthier classes, as the commitment of funds shows. Sheraton Parkway is now near gentrified parts of the Bronx. He thinks that by fighting with DiBlasio, he can seem tough and decisive instead of brattish and destructive. At this point, I actually prefer a neophyte over someone of too much experience at pulling levers for his friends and corporate supporters. The corruption and the flow of money from the state to the already wealthy smell rancid.

Most of these are just promises, easily revoked after the Democratic primary.

Yes Cuomo has lots of experience—in taking money from wealthy powerful special interests and doing their bidding. I'll take Cynthia Nixon's integrity over Cuomo's experience anytime.

If Andrew Cuomo were really sincere about pursuing a "Left" agenda, he would have done it well before now. And this sudden stance of his makes all those vituperative remarks he made about Ms. Nixon's candidacy only makes him appear all the more duplicitous. Nothing about him has changed. Don't believe the hype.

Beware the "promises" of Andrew Cuomo. They have a history of evaporating after the election. His promises to the Working Families Party evaporated in 2014 almost immediately after he secured their endorsement. That is why they are going with Cynthia Nixon this year at great risk to the party. But what good would they be if they once again went with the man who betrayed them?

Do Cuomo's positions align with mine on every issue? No! But Cynthia Nixon is just who we need if we're looking for another out-of-touch celebrity with no policy experience. Sorry, but I'll take Cuomo, with all of his skeletons in the closet, over that, any day. He won't be getting my vote when he runs for president, and I look forward to more compelling options four years from now, but in terms of this state's politics, we need more pragmatic centrists, not disciples of DeBlasio. As for the 2020 presidential primary, Sorry Cuomo, but my vote will be going to Elizabeth Warren!

Cuomo has always been a center-left politician. He's centrist on some things, leftist on others. I deal with it. The problem has always been with his "associations", not his "positions" Nixon's rabbi, of course, Bill DiBlasio has his own set of ethical skeletons which we conveniently overlooked during the recent general election, out of fear of electing a Republican mayor. Now that Nixon is apparently on the Working Families Party ballot in November, she might just draw enough support to elect a Tea Party Republican, a Carl Paladino clone, at the very moment that we might require a Democratic governor to heroically support Eric Schneiderman's efforts to hold the Trump crime syndicate accountable (especially if Robert Mueller is fired). One Jill Stein moment was enough (and NO, Hillary was not worse that Trump you political nitwit). Let's not revisit the experience here in NYS.

The only thing pulling Cuomo left is the fear that Cynthia may unseat him as Governor and/or jettison his national ambitions. If Cuomo is re-elected, his drift in any leftward direction will evaporate asap. Andrew Cuomo is not now and never has been a Progressive. That he is recycling Hillary's self identification as a "Progressive Who Gets Things Done" shows me that the NY Democratic party has nothing else to offer the electorate in 2018. Trump Bad! will not do it. A Governor who works for hedge funds and real estate interests cannot pass as a progressive to tenants forced out of their homes. Nor will, "but I passed a fracking ban" work if you live in a county in New York State with threatened water supplies. Announcing proposals and studies are what status quo liberals offer. Progressives go for change. Go, Cynthia!

Cuomo is rushing through all this to get to his Presidential bid. Where were these policies the last few years? As a New Yorker I'm frustrated to see Cuomo only start to lobby on issues I care about now that he's getting his 2020 engine up and running. Voters here won't forget your opportunism.