"If Andrew Cuomo had been governor last year, the state wouldn't have a $7.4 billion deficit this year, and the chaos and dysfunction it has under Paterson wouldn't exist." (NY Post 1-25-10). Or so says a spokesperson for New York's Attorney General and 'Governor in Waiting'.
One of the things I tell my clients is never be satisfied to sit on a lead. It's dangerous in any sport, let alone the blood sport of politics. Silence conveys the wrong message to voters. It suggests that a candidate is disengaged, has nothing to say, is excessively cautious, a coward, lacks leadership skills, or is incapable of articulating a coherent thought in public. Remember Martha Coakley?
Smart politicians know this. Andrew Cuomo is a smart politician. So why, if he is the 'Governor in Waiting,' which so many of the pundits think him to be, is Andrew so strangely silent about how he would govern New York and what he would do with the job if he had the job?
There are several possible reasons.
He might presume that Governor Patterson cannot survive his past mistakes, lapses in judgment, his penchant for prevarication or the difficult decisions he will need to make to close the spring budget deficit.
He might presume that his ample 'cash on hand,' $16 million, will be more than enough to overcome Governor Patterson's paltry $3 million.
He might presume that since he is under no apparent pressure from the New York Times to say much, or that as long as he can successfully resist any pressure to say something, that silence is an acceptable strategy.
He might also presume that since those who face unpopular incumbents do occasionally get away with silence and that he has nothing to lose by hiding behind a spokesperson--who asserts that he is too busy doing his job as Attorney General to comment on what he might do as Governor, or that the problems would not be had only the anointed one been at the helm.
He'd best rethink his strategy. New York faces an eight billion dollar deficit, its legislature is a dysfunctional cesspool of corruption and refuses to face the music of declining tax revenues, the Medicaid program is bankrupting the state, pension obligations threaten to overwhelm the next generation, and this past decade saw 1.5 million taxpayers flee to escape its confiscatory taxes. And the would be 'Governor in Waiting' can't be bothered to weigh in on how he would do a job he covets?
Silence cost Martha Coakley a seat in the Senate, and changed the course of history. Why would any smart politician be borrowing from that playbook?
Meanwhile, Governor Patterson's ratings have improved nine points in the past three months, according to a recent Siena Poll. It's because he is leading, and saying something, when no one else will.
