{"id":10293,"date":"2014-06-03T10:05:51","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T14:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=10293"},"modified":"2014-06-03T10:05:51","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T14:05:51","slug":"safe-opened-the-door-for-the-wfp-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=10293","title":{"rendered":"SAFE opened the door for the WFP endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank Bruni at the Times opines that Gov. Cuomo’s endorsement by the WFP<\/a> jeopardizes his chances of running for President in 2016 as a centrist Democrat<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“… Since becoming governor of New York three and a half years ago, Cuomo<\/a> has been performing a balancing act with implications for Democratic politics well beyond the state … it speaks to a perennial challenge in both parties: How does a pragmatic politician steer the kind of centrist course that often works best in the long run without provoking a revolt from the more partisan warriors in his or her camp?\u00a0 Over the weekend, Cuomo confronted such a revolt from the Working Families Party<\/a>, which was threatening to complicate his re-election by running a candidate to his left.\u00a0 He was forced to grovel before its members and to accept help in placating them from Bill de Blasio<\/a>, a man he prefers to pummel and keep at a distance.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s disastrous for him,\u201d one prominent Democratic strategist told me, saying that it undermined Cuomo\u2019s calculations and strategy to this point …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I agree that it was an embarrassment for Andrew.\u00a0 If he was really confidant of having a 30 point lead over Rob Astorino<\/a> there would have been no reason for him to accept the WFP line.\u00a0 Why did he choose to do that?<\/p>\n

“… \u201cHe likes to live in the middle,\u201d said another Democratic insider, one who has known him for decades. \u201cThat\u2019s where the country is, and to the extent that you can find an authentic political pulse in him, that\u2019s where he is.\u201d … The prospect of a left too potent \u2014 and of anyone but him calling the shots \u2014 clearly chills him.\u00a0 He wants to pick and choose his liberal flourishes, not have them chosen for him …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That may be true on a personal level, but he made a bad decision during his 2013 State of the State to try and revive gun control as an issue, despite the slow death spiral it has been in for years, thinking it would be the foundation of his presidential bid.\u00a0 It got Cuomo national attention, not for any substance on the issue, but because he totally lost his shit<\/a> while pushing for it.\u00a0 It has been downhill for him since then.<\/p>\n

SAFE is what opened the door for the WFP.\u00a0 If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in Him.\u00a0 There will be blood in the water, the sharks will come …<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 And they did come.<\/p>\n

Cuomo had to make promises<\/a> to get their endorsement.\u00a0 If he keeps those promises it will be bad for New York<\/a> which will be bad for his his image nationally.\u00a0 If he doesn’t keep them it will be bad for his image nationally among Democrats and the hard Left.\u00a0 Either way, Cuomo comes out the loser.<\/p>\n