How the Left Made Cuomo Vulnerable

[Klaralven]

Throughout his time as governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo has tried to crush the Working Families Party, a progressive third party founded in 1998 by an alliance of union leaders and community activists.

The Working Families Party doesn’t act as a spoiler, like the Green Party. It tries to push the Democratic Party leftward by backing progressives in Democratic primaries, while supporting Democrats in general election contests against Republicans. Because New York has what’s called fusion voting, progressives can vote for Democratic candidates on the Working Families ballot line, allowing the party to show its strength and maintain the threshold of votes required to stay on the ballot from year to year.

Cuomo has tried all sorts of things to kill the W.F.P. In 2014, he created the shell Women’s Equality Party to siphon votes from Working Families. Unions allied with Cuomo have left the W.F.P., threatening its funding; W.F.P. leaders believe Cuomo twisted their arms. The governor reportedly pressured Letitia James, New York’s attorney general and a longtime W.F.P. stalwart, to reject the party as a price of his support in her 2018 race. He maneuvered to end fusion voting — while denying that that was what he was doing — and used the state budget to triple the number of votes third parties need to keep their ballot lines. According to Politico, the governor has told people he wants to destroy the party.

Even allowing for his reputation as a vindictive control freak, I never fully understood the amount of energy Cuomo seemed to put into this vendetta. But it turns out he wasn’t being paranoid in seeing the W.F.P. as a threat. The 2018 victories of W.F.P.-backed state legislature candidates, part of that year’s blue wave, set the stage for Cuomo’s current crises.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/opinion/cuomo-working-families-party.html

[lagomorph777]

1. Is the Working Families Party working with Roger Stone?

...perhaps unwittingly?

[Klaralven]

3. No

[PoliticAverse]

5. I would suggest reading the article. n/t

[brooklynite]

8. Is Senator Schumer? Congressman Nadler? Mayor De Blasio?

Perhaps the blogosphere is just more intelligent than they are?

[PoliticAverse]

2. Cuomo made Cuomo vulnerable. n/t

[CentralMass]

4. Exactly. Being an abrasive bully doesn't win you a lot of good will.

[Celerity]

6. He brought it on himself

Before 2018, a bizarre and infuriating deal between Republicans and a conservative Democratic faction called the Independent Democratic Conference prevented Democrats from controlling the State Senate, despite holding a majority of seats. Though Cuomo has denied it, he was reported to be deeply involved in creating the coalition that kept his own party from taking power in the chamber. The arrangement served Cuomo’s interests by ensuring that the left couldn’t push him farther than he wanted to go, solidifying his control over the state’s political agenda.

[choie]

12. That was a particularly heinous move.

Fortunately, those suckers in the IDC were eventually thrown out on their butts.

[Sympthsical]

7. I was wondering when progressives would get blamed for this

Honestly, this took a lot longer than expected.

Cuomo's problem is Cuomo. Keep your hands to yourself. Have transparent, wise policies. Don't lie and threaten to destroy people when you get caught.

I feel like you and I and 99% of this message board could handle that one. Weird that Cuomo can't.

[choie]

9. That is not an accurate headline

it's not the left that made him vulnerable, it's his response to the left that did.

[leftstreet]

10. Crushing Left Leaning Parties Can Make You Vulnerable

fixed their headline for them

[abqtommy]

11. As far as I'm concerned we Democrats made ALL Democratic elected officials vulnerable

when certain ones of us decided that Al Franken had to go without the benefit of due
process.

[Stevano]

13. The Left didn't make Cuomo vulnerable

The current scandal made him vulnerable. He was very popular before the allegations.