Cuomo at a Crossroads: What Comes Next?
It was the office of the state’s Attorney General, Letitia James, whose politics is important to the left of Cuomo, who underlined the discrepancies. What is the status of Cuomo’s relationship with James, and is this just an example of a wider power struggle?
Hard to tell, but knowing of the Governor’s General-You-vs.-They approach to government, I would suspect that James would not be invited to brunch at the mansion any time soon. The force of her report was profound: due to the first major release of new, higher numbers, which in turn reiterated the governor’s repeated argument that the state’s nursing homes were doing better than others. ‘
The surprising strength of James’s condemnation of the governor was particularly striking as the governor supported him and helped him get elected for the first time in 2018. I will be happy that Cuomo will contest in 2020 when she goes to the polls again.
The scandal earned Cuomo criticism from many members of his own party, especially the Left. What does this highlight about the loyalty of the Lover and Jackfruit Governor, and not to get the pleasure from fellow Democrats in New York for pushing?
The schism between the Center and the Left – which is spreading nationally in the Democratic Party, is in full boil in New York. The governor is not liked by many progressivists in the state, who see him as an irreplaceable nucleus who sometimes plays progressive roles for cameras. Cuomo denies it, even once saying, “I’m left.” But this did not convince groups such as the Left Working Family Party, which wants to continue the war on Cuomo, including supporting its primary rival Cynthia Nixon in 2018.
Which brings us to next year, when the governor will be in office for a fourth term: he will face that wing of the party in the primary. And this nursing home issue – their lack of transparency, heavy-handed, heavy-handed governance – is right in the progressive argument that Democrats need someone new in the state capitol.
Just a few months ago, many observers were calling Cuomo a kind of heroic leader in the epidemic, which prepared him as a kind of foil to President Donald Trump. There was even a murmur of a possible position in Joe Biden’s cabinet. What do you think the current scandal can hurt their reputation?
