Andrew Cuomo is a disgusting politician. His campaign distributed flyers calling his underfunded opponent Cynthia Nixon an ant-Semite. This is absurd on many levels, since Nixon and her wife are raising their children as Jews.
Cuomo is currying favor with the Orthodox Jews, who are a powerful voting bloc. He already made a deal with them not to investigate the abysmal policies of yeshivas that don’t teach in English and don’t teach science or other modern subjects. Torah study is just fine, but it is not a preparation for 21st century life.
The New York Times has already endorsed Cuomo’s re-election, based on his experience. Strangely, on the day after it endorsed him, it published an editorial about the sewer of corruption in Albany, swirling around the ethically challenged Governor Cuomo, whose top aides have been convicted of taking large bribes.
Years ago, when Andrew’s father Mario ran for Mayor against Ed Koch in New York City, mysterious posters appeared in the conservative neighborhoods of Queens, reading “Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo,” a slur against Koch’s unacknowledged sexuality. No one accepted responsibility but at the time it was assumed that it was the work of son Andrew.
Now Cynthia Nixon has laughingly turned that nasty slogan around and said, “Vote for the Homo, not the Cuomo.”
The latest campaign finance reports show Cuomo with $35 million, mostly from hedge funders, Wall Street, and big corporate names. Nixon has $2 million in individual contributions.
Here is today’s New York Times editorial about Cuomo’s latest smear, for which he of course takes no responsibility:
This is dirty politics, nearly as sleazy as it gets.
Days before Mr. Cuomo’s primary race for re-election on Thursday, the New York State Democratic Committee has sent voters a campaign mailer falsely accusing his challenger, Cynthia Nixon, of being “silent on the rise of anti-Semitism.”
It says she supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. She does not. It accuses Ms. Nixon of opposing funding yeshivas, private religious schools attended by many of the city’s Orthodox Jews. She has never said that.
“With anti-Semitism and bigotry on the rise, we can’t take a chance,” the mailer reads. “Re-Elect Governor Andrew Cuomo.”
This is the lowest form of politics, and the most dangerous, exploiting the festering wounds and fears along ethnic and religious lines.
“I didn’t know about the mailer,” Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday in Manhattan. “I haven’t seen the mailer.”
Sorry, Mr. Cuomo, but that strains credulity.
Mr. Cuomo dominates the state Democratic Party. It acts ethically or abominably at his direction, or at the very least, with his campaign’s blessing.
The committee no doubt sent this garbage in the cynical hope that it would prove effective with Orthodox Jews, who generally vote as a bloc, making them a sought-after constituency for New York politicians.
Geoff Berman, executive director of the state Democrats, said Saturday on Twitter that the mailer was “a mistake and is inappropriate and is not the tone the Democratic Party should set,” saying it wouldn’t happen again. Sunday, he went further, saying the party would “work with the Nixon campaign to send out a mailing of their choosing to the same universe of people.”
Even if that were possible so late in the campaign, it’s not enough.
Mr. Cuomo has an obligation to personally apologize and condemn these outrageous attacks. Voters deserve to hear Mr. Cuomo describe Ms. Nixon as a worthy opponent who abhors anti-Semitism. He should make sure that message gets to Orthodox voters ahead of Thursday’s elections. And he should fire the party official who came up with the idea for the flier.
While Mr. Cuomo is at it, he might also mention that Ms. Nixon attends a Manhattan synagogue. Saturday night, her rabbi, Sharon Kleinbaum, issued a joint statement with her wife, the teachers’ union leader Randi Weingarten, on Facebook, calling the charges in the mailer a “baseless lie.” Other Democrats have also condemned Mr. Cuomo and the Democratic Party for the flier.
State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat who hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the primary, said in a statement released by the Nixon campaign on Sunday: “I am doubly offended and aghast that my party organization would produce and mail such a false, damaging attack on Ms. Nixon and then watch the Governor and key staff act surprised they had done this. Shameful.”
Given all the ethical lapses in Mr. Cuomo’s administration, of which he has also pleaded ignorance, this smear is appalling. It is the kind of cynical behavior that detracts from Mr. Cuomo’s often-impressive ability to govern. If he is not careful, it could make voters feel they have no choice but to vote for someone else.
Mr. Cuomo deserves a third term because of his potential to lead. He should stop squandering that potential now. To be sure of it, New York Democrats need to turn out in large numbers on Thursday to support every reform-driven candidate possible — for the Legislature, for attorney general, even for party committees. They can teach Albany a lesson it won’t soon forget.
What matters more? Experience or character? Cuomo has none of the latter and deserves to go down to defeat.
Circumstantial evidence against Cuomo not knowing about this can easily be read into his response:
“I didn’t know about the mailer,” Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday in Manhattan. “I haven’t seen the mailer.”
If he were sincere, he would add to the above statement: “But if this mailer is as you characterize it, I condemn it. I would not stoop to such a despicable level and I don’t want the support of voters who would vote for me based on these lies. And as governor, I will ask my attorney general to advise me if there are any legal remedies to both halt these mailers and expose who is behind them.”
See how easy that is…if you’re innocent.
Cuomo has experience all right: experience smearing his opponents.
What a pathetic little boy.
And in the slime ball politics that defines this country and NYS, in particular, Mr. Cuomo has been grandstanding for months about how he will save us from all the evil’s, hatreds and dangers emanating from Trump. He also reiterated that he was against the policies of the Third Reich. What courage.
Gov. Cuomo is an absolute bully
This is really no surprise, by the way. This is what State and National Democratic Party “Leaders” do to anyone who challenges the status quo.
They did it to Ned Lamont in CT when he ran against Lieberman for Senate. They did it to Bernie Sanders when he ran against Clinton. ANd now they are doing it to Cynthia Nixon.
These folks are entirely predictable.
As my mother would always ask me, Who are they? In my view, “they” are nonpartisan (bipartisan?) AIPAC-related/friendly networks that connect this type of behavior with criticism of Israel as “anti-semitic.” “They” have done it with German-French intellectual Alfred Grosser, authors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, Paul Novick, and Max Blumenthal. Netanyahu has built a cottage industry of calling any opposition to his extremist policies anti-semite. So, I think “they” are a major part of what has become right wing ideology. “They” have cheapened the concept of anti-semitism by changing its definition from a moral, human rights one into a football of political convenience.
The same thing is going on in the UK; Corbyn and the Labour Party are being accused of anti-semitism. I think (I have to admit an ignorance of UK politics) the accusation is based on the fact that Corbyn and members of his party have dared to criticize Israeli policies towards the Palestinians.
Is criticism of the Israeli government an expression of anti-Semitism? The answer, IMO, is a great big Sometimes.
Ha, ha…I saw the Clinton-Sanders debate (or it was a town hall) where it was very clear there was a “plant” in the audience (it took place, I believe, in one of the southern states where having religion–or, perhaps, being Christian–is of high priority to voters there). A woman asked Bernie about his religious beliefs (or if he went to church or something to that effect), & he said (not an exact quote,” I am a proud Jew…” & talked a bit more. (Even my husband, who is often on a very politically different path, agreed w/me, as did a number of people I had discussed this with in our temple.) Either the woman was attempting to get Bernie to say he is an atheist or is agnostic*, or she was wanting everyone to hear him say that he is Jewish, for all the anti-semites who might have been there or who were watching: IOW, to “cook his goose.” Now, anyone who has been following Hillary, as I have for many years, know she is a devout Methodist, & that her pastor turned her away from being a “Goldwater girl” by taking his youth group into Chicago & opening their eyes (I believe they went to see/hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.). Which is, of course, a good thing. That having been said, of course the question was posed to Hillary &, of course, her answer as to her faith & church attendance was very favorable to the audience.
*I had read in Shattered, in fact, that Podesta (&, perhaps it was also Mook) were discussing the very question of “what Bernie is,” forecasting that such a question would most certainly make him look bad. Anyway, Bernie’s answer brought tears to my eyes, & he did us proud. (Our Rabbi was so pleased &, in fact, he gave me a printout of what Bernie had done for Chabad when he was mayor of Burlington (there was a lawsuit because Chabad wanted to put up their large
menorah in front of City Hall {there was already a creche there}, & Bernie told them it was okay; the administration won that lawsuit) Bernie’s best friend (& the guy who egged him on to run) is an Orthodox Jew &, right after Bernie won his second mayoral run in a landslide, that friend took him to Chabad for their Purim Celebration!
Considering the dark underside of Cuomo’s schtick, I think the above story is a nice counterpoint, especially since it’s Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish New Year. L’shana tova to everyone!
(&, NY, you all say “NIX-on Cuomo!”)
Establishment Dems have decided on the issue that will drive voters to the polls in November. No… it’s not the “opioid” campaign issue (both parties like that one because it’s safe). No…it’s not “money in politics”, which has potential for energetic campaigning.
They’ve selected an issue that is safe and lacks dramatic energy- voting rights. The Center for American Progress PR team can once again craft a message that makes people yawn. What could possibly go wrong with a slogan, “stop gerrymandering”?
!!!!!!!!!!
A new low.
Skeazy. That’s a portmanteau: sketchy + sleazy.
My favorite part of the Times’s editorial:
“’I didn’t know about the mailer,’ Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday in Manhattan. ‘I haven’t seen the mailer.’
Sorry, Mr. Cuomo, but that strains credulity.”
I hope that this is only the beginning of what will be an illustrious political career for Ms. Nixon. Never thought I would find myself saying, “We need another Nixon in the White House.” LOL
Though Vlad’s Agent Orange, by contrast, makes even Tricky Dicky seem, in memory, like a paragon of sanity.
Andrew Cuomo appears to be trying out for the part of Donald Trump in the Broadway production of “The Art of the Spiel”
Maybe Cuomo should hire Rudy Giuliani as his agent.
The POS is correct in him saying he hasn’t seen the mailer. His POS people backing him did the mailer and sent it out without him seeing the fnal draft of the mailer. This is how these Fk ing POS AH politicians get away with fraud and liable all the time.
Hilarious. The editorial spends most of the time ripping Cuomo for ethical lapses and smears, and then ends with this: “Mr. Cuomo deserves a third term because of his potential to lead.”
Or, rather, pathetic.
Just like the editorial endorsing him, which criticized the corruption all around him, including his decision to disband the state commission investigating corruption, and the conviction of his closest aide.
Yes, Diane, I was thinking of the editorial.
WHAT were THEY (at the NYT) thinking?!
(Very little, apparently.)
Better a crook than a novice?
At least, the paper endorsed Zephyr Teachout for Attorney General. I know it’s not much compensation, but it’s something.
Vote for the novice every time. There’s usually an incubation period. It takes a few years for them to become crooks. It kinda disrupts the thieving and corruption.
“New York Democrats need to turn out in large numbers on Thursday to support every reform-driven candidate possible — for the Legislature, for attorney general, even for party committees. They can teach Albany a lesson it won’t soon forget.” — NT Times Editors
Of course, if that actually happened and Zephyr Teachout became AG, the Times editors would not like it one bit because Teachout has already said she will reopen the corruption
probe that Cuomo shut down and that would put their pal Cuomo in jeopardy.
But of course, the editors of the Times don’t really mean what they wrote. There is nothing they would like to see more than a continuation of BAU in Albany.
Politicians should be more careful not to paint orthodox and reform Jews together with such a broad brush, Cuomo acolytes. We are highly varied demographics.
Brava Dr. Ravitch ! Thank you.
Bernie Sanders snubbed Cynthia Nixon while endorsing both Teachout and Williams.
Apparently he didn’t wish to rock the boat too much. It might tip over and goodness knows we can’t have that. Someone should give him a “Gone fishing. Be back in 2024” hat
Bernie’s failure to endorse Cynthia Nixon is bizarre.
What could he possibly have in common with Cuomo, the face of the old Establishment?
Exactly.
Podesto took something and made it nothing. Bernie created something from nothing. Cuomo helped Podesto. It is a puzzle why Bernie hasn’t endorsed Nixon.
It may be bizarre, but it’s all too familiar.
Sanders has decided Nixon has no chance of beating Cuomo (how’s that for irony?) and clearly thinks that he’s better off (with regard to his 2020 Presidential aspirations) not angering Cuomo and the Democratic “leaders” who back him.
It’s exactly the same political calculus that kept Elizabeth Warren from endorsing Sanders in the Presidential primary.
They think they are being very clever, but a lot of people see through it and see it as cowardly.
This is one of the things that makes me sad about Bernie.
My biggest disappointment is that he has not stumped for Tim Canova who, if ANYONE, is the honest-to-G-d REAL DEAL (he’s running–again–against Debbie Wasserman Schultz).* He’s fearless; he challenged the last election (election fraud BIG time) & won, but nothing happened, because the county clerk (who should be prosecuted), against the law, had destroyed election ballots so–poof!–no proof. Worse than the hanging chads.
Nevertheless, Tim persists. PLEASE donate to his campaign, &–if you’re at all involved in Our Revolution, reach out & have your state leaders urge Bernie to get to FL & stump for Tim.
*All of this having been said, people in the know have informed me that this particular race, RE: DWS, is very dangerous & dark territory, & that’s why Bernie hasn’t gotten involved.
You know that DWS had employed people who were proven wrong-doers & nothing–no prosecution–occurred.
Still, not an excuse for Nixon situation.
This is exactly why we need a strong 3rd party (that & the David Sirota
post).
WE don’t need a new party. OUR party is the party of FDR. The tech tyrants and hedge funders claim to be risk takers. They should stop being conniving cowards and form their own party. Where’s the imagination, grit and courage of the self-satisfied Bill and Melinda Gates- NOWHERE. They’re gutless DINO’s, manipulating us out of what we created as a legacy for our kids. And, they did (are doing it) with the help of the Podesto apparatus. The school privatizing DINO’s should take the neoliberal Clintons with them to their new creation- the party of Greed.The problem is the Greed party and the Republican Party are one and the same. The hedge funders and tech tyrants are no different than the Koch’s, which explains the cozy relationship between Podesto and Jeb Bush.
FYI, it’s Podesta, not Podesto.
Bernie IS a 3rd party. He is not a Democrat. I am also very saddened he is not stumping for Cynthia Nixon. Maybe he thinks that would do more harm than good for her. I suspect that is why de Blasio isn’t endorsing Nixon. Not because he doesn’t want her to win, and not to please Cuomo, but because the media is so anti- de Blasio that any endorsement by him would hurt her.
“we need a strong 3rd party”
No, no, no! Not unless there’s a runoff election when there’s no majority.
As a lifelong New Yorker, I know this from the senatorial elections of 1970 and 1980. Both times, the liberal vote was split and the conservative got in.
Andrew Cuomo was the reason for the only third-party protest votes I have ever cast, and being a lifelong New Yorker, I cast those votes only after determining that Cuomo was a shoo-in. I’m at least thankful to Cuomo for threatening public-sector unions before the election, not after.
He also disbanded the Moreland Commission against corruption when it go too close to him, and his only explanation was “it’s my commission and I’ll close it if I want to.
And then there’s his championing of charter schools, especially Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academies. The effect of the charter-school movement is so obviously to undermine public education that it is hard to see why any politician would endorse it unless his aim was just that.
What beats me is why these three issues received so little coverage in this campaign. Cuomo’s disbandment of the Moreland Commission should have been reason enough to rake him over the coals.
All the more reason to vote for Zephyr Teachout for AG.
And vote for Cynthia Nixon
From NY Post
“Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was blindsided by an “inappropriate” political mailer tying Cynthia Nixon to anti-Semitism — but just a day before the inflammatory literature surfaced, one of his top campaign aides pitched a story about the primary challenger’s opposition to Israeli settlements.”
https://nypost.com/2018/09/11/email-from-cuomo-aide-casts-doubt-on-claims-over-anti-semitic-mailer/
Cuomo is pathetic and so is anyone who would actually vote for him, which obviously includes lots of people in NY.
Cuomo is a thug.
He is ahead of Cynthia by 40 points, has $35 million compared to her $2 Million, and he still fights dirty.
That’s who he is.
In my opinion, a person would have to be either completely clueless or utterly dishonest to vote for someone like Cuomo.
And in my opinion, the editors of the Times who wrote that story also fall in one of those categories.
A person would have to be clueless to believe Cuomo’s denial and have to be dishonest to continue backing him knowing what he did.