‘Tough’ and ‘Impatient’ Cuomo Looks to Win Second Term
Watch Gov. Andrew Cuomo give a speech on television or hold a press conference in person, it’s hard not to be impressed. There’s a command and a presence that many don’t have even at the highest levels of government.
However, in cynical times, especially when it comes to politicians, it’s easy to wonder how much of what a seasoned elected official lets the public see is authentic.
For some of the people who have watched Cuomo, who looks to win re-election next week against Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, and interacted with him on the campaign trail or in state government, that enthusiasm for public service and the positions he believes in are real.
“He’s extremely passionate about the issues that he’s advocating,” Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s running mate for lieutenant governor, said during a recent visit to Mount Kisco. “I see it in his face. I hear it in his tone. He brings it out into the open because he is a person who cares so deeply about the residents of the state of New York.”
While Cuomo, a New Castle resident, may not be referred to as “the steamroller” as former governor Eliot Spitzer was once ungraciously called, make no mistake that he is tough and smart. State Sen. George Latimer (D-Rye) said it’s no surprise given Cuomo’s background in public life, from managing his father’s campaigns to becoming a prosecutor, then as the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, state attorney general and now governor, that he has been able to get things done.
“I haven’t interacted with him often but when I did have a few moments with him and we discussed some of the issues, he’s not afraid to say ‘I think you’re wrong,'” Latimer said.
During the past four years, there have been issues that his predecessors were unable to advance or observers said couldn’t be done, said outgoing Republican state Sen. Greg Ball, who has been Cuomo’s representative the past two years. The tax cap, the Marriage Equality Act and getting the stalled Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project moving were all impressive achievements given the state’s history of inertia, he said.
“In the first couple of years he was Spitzer without the hookers,” Ball said. “I found him to be extremely capable, and being able to make the tough choices, and his honesty and being able to reach across the aisle in the Senate was refreshing.”
However, in the past two years, there has been a shift to more partisan politics, Ball lamented, pushing agenda items that the state’s Democratic leadership wants. He hopes that once the election is over, should he be re-elected, the Cuomo of 2011and 2012 can return.
In his recently published memoir “All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life,” Cuomo outlines his initial rise to prominence, his crushing setback when he bungled his own primary campaign for governor against Carl McCall in 2002, and his triumphant return to public life.
But his resilience and his determination to see things through is evident. In one passage, he recalls how former governor George Pataki had announced that he was going to replace the Tappan Zee in 1999 but after 430 meetings and $88 million spent, there was no concrete plan.
“My belief is that if we could build it in 1955, it can be built again in 2011,” he said after taking office. “If you think we can’t do this, recuse yourself. I don’t want you involved. I’m not here to continue the state’s culture of failure. I’m not interested in why things can’t be done. I don’t buy the same old, same old reasons for not trying. That thinking ends now.”
Hochul said it is that attitude and blunt approach that may rub some people the wrong way, but there’s a reason for it.
“He’s very impatient,” she said. “He wants it done yesterday and we all understand time in public life is something that we both treasure and look at as a privilege, and while you’re in office you have to use every single day to continue to have the faith of the voters.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
