My main issue here is not on the policy front, where I largely agree. Nor on your criticisms of Mamdani, where I also largely agree.
Rather I think you've made a very compelling argument to vote for the Andrew Cuomo you got to know in the mid-90s. That Andrew is sadly no longer around. I was in a small group meeting with our former governor a few weeks ago and I saw neither the dynamic problem solver who ran HUD nor the energetic colossus who bestrode Albany all those years.
I saw a tired, worn out, defeated man long past his prime who is motivated almost exclusively by resentment. His understanding of the contemporary political landscape in NYC is, in my opinion, shockingly out of date (he thinks he lost solely because "kids saw brown babys being killed in Gaza on TikTok"). This is not the reason he lost. The reason he lost (and will again in Nov) is because its painfully obvious that he has no real burning interest in being Mayor. He ran b/c he assumed he'd clear the field and win easily against weak opposition. He could rehabilitate himself and have fun f***ing with Kathy Hochul.
He has no real vision for the city (where he hasn't lived for decades). Beyond a handful of marquee infrastructure projects (Moynihan, LGA, etc) he did little if anything to help the city in the while Governor. I love the new LGA as much as you do. But it doesn't help me much when the signals on the C train break down at least once a week.
And again I broadly agree with your assessment of the damage the #MeToo movement has done to the Dems (paging Al Franken!) But Andrew Cuomo is a walking definition of a toxic male personality. Ask anyone who worked on the 2nd Floor, in the legislature, or in the agencies while he was governor. He was a notoriously arrogant, bullying asshole. The reason he racked up so many endorsement early in his run isn't because ANYONE in NYC politics was jazzed about him winning but because elected were scared sh**less about facing his vengeance if they didn't get on board early.
The real tragedy here is that he ran in the first place. His presence prevented other talented, younger, more electable, middle of the road Dems from entering the race.
We are at a deeply unstable period in our country's politics and voters are crying out for vision, charisma, and leadership. And right now the lefty progressives are the only figures in the party providing that. If the moderate/sane wing of the party can only offer up washed up, exhausted retreads like Andrew Cuomo than we are in DEEP trouble.
This back-and-forth makes Sanity Clause a precious subscription. OMG, do I miss Mario, who campaigned in poetry and governed in prose. Wish Mario was alive and sitting on the Supreme Court.
Walter--I loved Mario, even if I disagreed with him. It was a father-son relationship. But you should know: The reason why Maria didn't accept Clinton's offer to the Supreme Court was that he understood that his job would be the anti-Scalia and he didn't think he had the academic cred to cut the mustard.
Joe: In general, I'm with you. I recently posted a comment somewhere that described my politics as some cross between you and Matt Yglesias. But with the caveat that I'm not a New Yorker (though I did there from 2000-2005), I think you're getting this one badly wrong.
While I agree with a number of your criticisms of Mamdani, I think there is a case to be made that he potentially represents the tradition of sewer socialism (which would enable the Left to again actually make positive contributions to American society versus the negative role it plays today). And I think "fast buses" could actually make a huge contribution to the quality of life for New Yorkers.
Also, what's clear is that Mamdani plays to win, is willing to work incredibly hard, and is not afraid to engage constructively with people who disagree with him:
"The most obvious and important takeaway from the extraordinary upset in New York’s mayoral primary is that the Democratic establishment that backed Andrew Cuomo deserved to lose, and now deserves to be further humiliated. Cuomo was a terrible candidate who ran a terrible campaign. He had no rationale for running other than his personal vanity, and no asset in running but his fame."
Would I prefer a Michael Bloomberg to Zohran? Absolutely. Having said that, sometimes you have to take a chance on a positive future and hope someone can grow into the office. And when the alternative is as bad as Cuomo, the choice isn't actually that hard.
I’m not a New Yorker, but I am a lifelong Democrat. I have always considered myself a Clinton style Democrat and a centrist. I don’t ageee with Mamdani on much of anything but I would vote for him over Cuomo any day. Cuomo is an old has been who is running for mayor as an ego trip and a bid to stay relevant. He’s a symptom of what is wrong with the party now . Another is 77 year old Janet Mills running for the Senate in Maine. Until the Democratic Party stops running these retreads and runs candidates who can generate excitement and attract young people they will continue to lose.
I applaud you for your opinion about Cuomo. I don't think, however, that the NYC Mayoral election has as much impact beyond New York City as you believe. NYC media believes it does, but it almost never happens (see Rudy, Bloomberg, deblasio, etc).
Great column! I agree. If elected, Mandani will probably not be able to do any of the horrible things that he is proposing, so he will probably do nothing. Either way, NYC, and the National Democratic Party, will lose.
Look, I'm New York-born myself, and have continued to follow news from the "old country" ever since I left there as a newlywed in 1979. And in fact, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Andrew Cuomo for his daily COVID updates, during the height of the pandemic.
But I think you're brushing some things under the rug that are significant. What about under-counting COVID-19-related deaths among nursing home patients, by up to 50%? What about letting the elderly be admitted to nursing homes straight from the hospital during the pandemic, without testing them? What about the controversy surrounding how Andrew financed the writing of his book, "American Crisis"? And really, what about those sexual assault allegations?
I have been thinking a lot about Bill Clinton lately. I cast my first vote for President for Carter in 1976, but I voted for Udall in the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Primary over Carter. I think that Bill Clinton was the best President during my adult life. I long for another Bill Clinton!
I know Cuomo’s answer on the Covid nursing home scandal was basically ‘where else do you suggest we put them?’ Stay in hospital take up beds they are more likely to die than the younger ones we can save and going back to nursing home is a better option. “Andrew’s Choice”.
Of course he could never say that.
Sexual Assault - no convictions no plea deals - Tish James got an apology from him to plaintiffs. Do these rise to anything close to what Trump or Clinton did? Hard to make that case.
And now we have Trump saying he’s cutting Gateway. THE most important infrastructure project in the country. Who do you want getting down and dirty w Trump to get that money flowing again?
Cuomo or Mamdani? Who got LGA done. Who got Moynihan done?
Or is a free grocery store per borough and a bunch of non-binding rhetoric on Palestine what the new standard is?
You lost me on this one Joe!
My main issue here is not on the policy front, where I largely agree. Nor on your criticisms of Mamdani, where I also largely agree.
Rather I think you've made a very compelling argument to vote for the Andrew Cuomo you got to know in the mid-90s. That Andrew is sadly no longer around. I was in a small group meeting with our former governor a few weeks ago and I saw neither the dynamic problem solver who ran HUD nor the energetic colossus who bestrode Albany all those years.
I saw a tired, worn out, defeated man long past his prime who is motivated almost exclusively by resentment. His understanding of the contemporary political landscape in NYC is, in my opinion, shockingly out of date (he thinks he lost solely because "kids saw brown babys being killed in Gaza on TikTok"). This is not the reason he lost. The reason he lost (and will again in Nov) is because its painfully obvious that he has no real burning interest in being Mayor. He ran b/c he assumed he'd clear the field and win easily against weak opposition. He could rehabilitate himself and have fun f***ing with Kathy Hochul.
He has no real vision for the city (where he hasn't lived for decades). Beyond a handful of marquee infrastructure projects (Moynihan, LGA, etc) he did little if anything to help the city in the while Governor. I love the new LGA as much as you do. But it doesn't help me much when the signals on the C train break down at least once a week.
And again I broadly agree with your assessment of the damage the #MeToo movement has done to the Dems (paging Al Franken!) But Andrew Cuomo is a walking definition of a toxic male personality. Ask anyone who worked on the 2nd Floor, in the legislature, or in the agencies while he was governor. He was a notoriously arrogant, bullying asshole. The reason he racked up so many endorsement early in his run isn't because ANYONE in NYC politics was jazzed about him winning but because elected were scared sh**less about facing his vengeance if they didn't get on board early.
The real tragedy here is that he ran in the first place. His presence prevented other talented, younger, more electable, middle of the road Dems from entering the race.
We are at a deeply unstable period in our country's politics and voters are crying out for vision, charisma, and leadership. And right now the lefty progressives are the only figures in the party providing that. If the moderate/sane wing of the party can only offer up washed up, exhausted retreads like Andrew Cuomo than we are in DEEP trouble.
Well argued. Thanks.
This back-and-forth makes Sanity Clause a precious subscription. OMG, do I miss Mario, who campaigned in poetry and governed in prose. Wish Mario was alive and sitting on the Supreme Court.
Walter--I loved Mario, even if I disagreed with him. It was a father-son relationship. But you should know: The reason why Maria didn't accept Clinton's offer to the Supreme Court was that he understood that his job would be the anti-Scalia and he didn't think he had the academic cred to cut the mustard.
Joe: In general, I'm with you. I recently posted a comment somewhere that described my politics as some cross between you and Matt Yglesias. But with the caveat that I'm not a New Yorker (though I did there from 2000-2005), I think you're getting this one badly wrong.
While I agree with a number of your criticisms of Mamdani, I think there is a case to be made that he potentially represents the tradition of sewer socialism (which would enable the Left to again actually make positive contributions to American society versus the negative role it plays today). And I think "fast buses" could actually make a huge contribution to the quality of life for New Yorkers.
https://nathannewman.substack.com/p/the-revolution-will-arrive-on-time
Also, what's clear is that Mamdani plays to win, is willing to work incredibly hard, and is not afraid to engage constructively with people who disagree with him:
https://rosselliotbarkan.com/p/life-with-zohran
Again, these are all qualities that we want to see more of on the Left.
Plus, Cuomo is simply a disastrous candidate. Noah Millman had a great summary of his candidacy after the primary (https://gideons.substack.com/p/ten-thoughts-on-zohran-mamdanis-victory):
"The most obvious and important takeaway from the extraordinary upset in New York’s mayoral primary is that the Democratic establishment that backed Andrew Cuomo deserved to lose, and now deserves to be further humiliated. Cuomo was a terrible candidate who ran a terrible campaign. He had no rationale for running other than his personal vanity, and no asset in running but his fame."
Would I prefer a Michael Bloomberg to Zohran? Absolutely. Having said that, sometimes you have to take a chance on a positive future and hope someone can grow into the office. And when the alternative is as bad as Cuomo, the choice isn't actually that hard.
I’m not a New Yorker, but I am a lifelong Democrat. I have always considered myself a Clinton style Democrat and a centrist. I don’t ageee with Mamdani on much of anything but I would vote for him over Cuomo any day. Cuomo is an old has been who is running for mayor as an ego trip and a bid to stay relevant. He’s a symptom of what is wrong with the party now . Another is 77 year old Janet Mills running for the Senate in Maine. Until the Democratic Party stops running these retreads and runs candidates who can generate excitement and attract young people they will continue to lose.
I applaud you for your opinion about Cuomo. I don't think, however, that the NYC Mayoral election has as much impact beyond New York City as you believe. NYC media believes it does, but it almost never happens (see Rudy, Bloomberg, deblasio, etc).
Great column! I agree. If elected, Mandani will probably not be able to do any of the horrible things that he is proposing, so he will probably do nothing. Either way, NYC, and the National Democratic Party, will lose.
Look, I'm New York-born myself, and have continued to follow news from the "old country" ever since I left there as a newlywed in 1979. And in fact, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Andrew Cuomo for his daily COVID updates, during the height of the pandemic.
But I think you're brushing some things under the rug that are significant. What about under-counting COVID-19-related deaths among nursing home patients, by up to 50%? What about letting the elderly be admitted to nursing homes straight from the hospital during the pandemic, without testing them? What about the controversy surrounding how Andrew financed the writing of his book, "American Crisis"? And really, what about those sexual assault allegations?
What happened to "character counts"?
Good point about Covid. He has serious flaws...so did Clinton, but he made a fine president.
I have been thinking a lot about Bill Clinton lately. I cast my first vote for President for Carter in 1976, but I voted for Udall in the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Primary over Carter. I think that Bill Clinton was the best President during my adult life. I long for another Bill Clinton!
We can argue that on foreign policy not on domestic policy.
I know Cuomo’s answer on the Covid nursing home scandal was basically ‘where else do you suggest we put them?’ Stay in hospital take up beds they are more likely to die than the younger ones we can save and going back to nursing home is a better option. “Andrew’s Choice”.
Of course he could never say that.
Sexual Assault - no convictions no plea deals - Tish James got an apology from him to plaintiffs. Do these rise to anything close to what Trump or Clinton did? Hard to make that case.
And now we have Trump saying he’s cutting Gateway. THE most important infrastructure project in the country. Who do you want getting down and dirty w Trump to get that money flowing again?
Cuomo or Mamdani? Who got LGA done. Who got Moynihan done?
Or is a free grocery store per borough and a bunch of non-binding rhetoric on Palestine what the new standard is?
Excellent, fun to read, heart warming in an older political mode, that had thought had gone out of style. Well done! Good luck with your choice.