Democrats thought that Mr. Cuomo had succumbed to messages from Occupy Wall Street, who were set up near the statehouse and holding signs labeling Mr. Cuomo “Governor One Percent.” Republicans thought that by essentially ending the tax, he had taken a key campaign issue off the table and insured their return to the majority of the State Senate.
“What are the Democrats going to run on?” said one senior GOP aide. “Hyrdrofracking? Gay marriage is off the table, the MTA tax is off the table, the millionaire’s tax is off the table.”
And Democrats sat back and wowed that one of their own was able to allow both the Business Council and labor unions to declare victory.
“It’s as if Hank Sheinkopf were the governor of New York,” said one aide, likening Mr. Cuomo to the longtime campaign consultant familiar to anyone in politics. “This guy’s not even a politician—he’s a political operative.”
(In response, Mr. Sheinkopf replied, “I am flattered, but Andrew Cuomo grew up in politics, and I did not.” He declined to praise the deal further: “I don’t give blow jobs for a living.”)
That the deal came down so quickly raised the ire of The New York Times editorial board and good government groups—entities that Albany is not much used to hearing praise from, so no one seemed to really mind. And the accelerated schedule saved them from weeks of pounding in the New York Post.
“The masterstroke was the timing,” said one senior Democratic lawmaker. “He took a beating on the millionaire’s tax [from Democrats] for a year. Let it build up until Republicans realized they were going to get the crap beaten out of them, and then don’t have us stand around for days while the opposition calls everybody and their family to beat us up. Suddenly everybody was in a position they couldn’t refuse.”
Weeks ago, Mr. Cuomo had first gotten an earful about the millionaire’s tax from members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian caucus. Privately, he was complaining to colleagues about the pounding he was taking from the left. As the deadline for the expiration of the tax approached, Mr. Cuomo avoided what critics often see as his own worst instincts by overstrategizing and playing the game of politics too cute by half. “That’s always been the knock on Cuomo,” said one lobbyist. “The more elaborate the plan, the more excited he is by it.” Instead, he embarked on a PR campaign, warning New Yorkers about the doom approaching due to the deficit (doom that some lawmakers now say seems overblown).
Afterward, Mr. Cuomo held up the deal as explicit rebuke to the gridlock that Washington faces. It was not hard to see the similarities to Barack Obama’s promises, circa 2008, of post-partisanship, or even to George Bush’s promises, circa 2000, to change the culture of Washington. In Albany, the big issues for 2012 are off the table. No serious GOP threat seems likely in 2014 (what would they run on anyway?) 2016 is only five years away.
dfreedlander@observer.com
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All praise Andrew “Cesare” Cuomo.
I wonder why Hank “Take The Fifth” Sheinkopf was so nasty in his comments ?
efore there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli
VJ Machiavelli
Power to the People who “VOTE”
Cuomo is going to preside over the biggest decline in public services since the 1970s, after raising taxes and given the nation’s highest tax burden.
None of this is his fault. But those whose fault it is will be quick to blame him. And, by the way, slashing the pay and benefits of FUTURE public employees will do nothing to change this.
Sheinkopf has a long history of running candidates against Cuomo and a longer, as well as more recent, history of running his mouth.
People do not like him, he’s anti social, and distant from the public because he knows the public does not like him, he knows he did not win the governors seat legit, the election was fixed. He knows the public does not like him. America will not accept his demeanor or arrogance and all the people who moved out of New York State because of the corruption that has been going on here for years, they’re not buying Andrew Cuomo’s agenda. Everybody knows he wants to be the President, yeah right! We all have wants… the biggest problem with Andrew Cuomo is he can be bought at the right price, and that is dangerous for the working class who are nobody’s with nothing. He’s not our leader, he’s not for union, he’s not for morals and he’s anti-American, he’s rich and greedy and he looks down on the working class. I am the wife and daughter of a Teamster and I was up close to Andrew Cuomo, he’s a snob. Everything I wrote here is the truth… He has no morals and he’s connected and controlled by the almighty dollar bill. Look at the potholes in New York and look at the litter on the streets and the foreclosed homes, and look Andrew Cuomo in the face when he is telling you he’s doing a great job as Governor, he’s nothing but a lie. No, Andrew Cuomo will not be President in 2016! His judgement has a flaw, he thinks a good sauce is made out of tomato soup, this guy sold his soul to the devil the day he traded his heritage in for a mansion and a lousy cook. He can call himself a Governor, but, he can’t call himself an Italian just because he has a vowel in his name. He absolutely knows nothing about being a trader or a leader, every example he has ever shown us has failed, HUD… however, he does have a lot of suggestions “We need Change” and he has a pen full of black ink for sale, he pushes his pen every time a lobbyist rubs his palm with some of that green stuff, he whips his pen out and signs his name to a new bill, he’s a typical pencil pusher..