Gun Politics New York

More evidence passing the SAFE Act didn’t help Governor Cuomo’s presidential aspirations:

“Glass half full for Cuomo 2016: The New York governor is polling in third place for a potential Democratic presidential primary, trailing only former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.  Glass half empty: Cuomo garnered support from just 6 percent of the Democrats (or Democrat-leaning independents) polled …”

So best case scenario here is that Democrats don’t see Cuomo’s support for gun control as being very important.

Some rumormongering from Newsmax:

“In a recent political development that could only be called surprising, Newsmax has learned that U.S. Rep. Peter King, past chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is being encouraged by friends in and outside the Empire State to seek the GOP nomination for president in 2016 …”

Why?  He’s an old, Northeastern RINO with limited national exposure.

“… “Peter can speak to and assemble the old Ronald Reagan Democrats — and he’s a world-renowned expert on global terrorism and national defense,” former Rep. Vito Fosella, a New York Republican and close friend of King’s, told Newsmax. “He has broad appeal and that’s why he keeps winning in the Northeast when other Republicans come and go.” …”

Yes, he can speak intelligently on terrorism and defense.  As to the later statement, I’m not so sure.  King’s continued re-election has as much to do with the inter- and intra-party cronyism and collusion Republicans and Democrats engage in as it does with any genuine public backing.

Some interesting insights into Gov. Cuomo’s re-election campaign.

First from Fred Dicker:

“… Cuomo’s aides nervously concede that upstate voters are a major problem for the governor, with some predicting Cuomo will lose as many as 50 upstate counties because of an ailing economy, a worsening tax burden, and outrage over the governor’s sweeping anti-gun Safe Act, which passed in January …”

Second from State of Politics:

“The vast majority of contributions to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign come from $10,000 contributions and higher, according to analysis released today by the New York Public Interest Research Group … NYPIRG found that eighty percent of the money raised by Cuomo this cycle has come from donors giving $10,000 or more.  Nearly 44 percent of his contributions this cycle have come from donors giving $40,000 or more, according to numbers wizard Bill Mahoney.  Those giving less than $1,000 account for less than 1 percent of all Cuomo’s campaign donations …”

Taken together is seems to indicate the Governor’s level of public support is a lot less than most in the media are willing to admit.  Sure he’s got a lot of money, but why aren’t average citizens giving to the campaign?  With tens of millions in the bank it is unlikely any challenger could match Cuomo’s money, but perhaps a dark horse candidate like Steve McLaughlin who was willing to put in the effort and go door-to-door might be able to knock him out.

The Governor is unhappy with Congress:

“Disappointed critics blasted bipartisan steps to expand background checks for gun buyers as falling short of the great leap expected in the anguished days after Newtown … “It is unbelievable that this Congress is going to fundementally fail to act on a societal scourge,” Cuomo said during a Wednesday radio appearance.  “This is a Congress that is captive of the extremism and there is no clearer proof of that than this,” Cuomo said. “I think it is a damning commentary on this Congress.” …”

The only thing he is upset about is the colossal miscalculation he made with the SAFE Act.

He wanted New York to be the first state to pass new gun control laws.  He thought he could exploit Newtown for personal political gain and use SAFE as a springboard to launch a ’16 presidential campaign.  What he got instead was a huge drop in popularity, his so-called women’s agenda tanking in the legislature and his name dropping off the radar of top tier potential Democrat candidates.

Cuomo thought that by championing gun control he would be seen as a national leader.  Well, he is.  Cuomo a national leader on an unpopular fringe issue.  That’s instant karma.