Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie (Photo: Getty)

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie, his Republican counterpart in New Jersey, are willing to admit they have at least one thing in common: strong, Sicilian mothers. Mr. Christie pointed out this fact earlier this week while denying reports he privately discussed agreeing with Mr. Cuomo on a wide variety of issues. Today, Mr. Cuomo responded during a budget-related press conference where he playfully hinted at the unusually "powerful" influence Sicilian mothers have on their children.

"I understood that the governor said we both have Sicilian mothers, which is true," Mr. Cuomo said when asked about Mr. Christie's comments. "They can be a strong force on development--I don't know on political philosophy--but on personal development, the Sicilian mother is a very powerful force."

The pair of governors' quest to find common ground began when a man who met Mr. Christie gave an interview in which he claimed the Garden State politician had said he is "not much different from Andrew Cuomo" and, "I probably agree with him on 98 percent of the issues." Mr. Christie denied the report saying that he actually simply acknowledged he and Mr. Cuomo came from a similar, Sicilian background.

“What I said was that Governor Cuomo and I were raised in very much the same kind of households. Governor Cuomo was raised by a Sicilian mother and so was I,” Mr. Christie explained. “And so that a lot of our values are the same. I don’t ever remember saying anything like I agree with him 98 percent of the time because I don’t. So I’m sure I didn’t say that.”

(Photo: Getty)

Governor Chris Christie is angry.

In addition to a statement blasted out earlier today, New Jersey's outspoken governor held a press conference this afternoon where he said Speaker John Boehner's sudden decision to halt a vote on the Hurricane Sandy relief package exemplifies "why the American people hate Congress."

"Thirty-one days for Andrew victims. Seventeen days for victims of Gustav and Ike. Ten days for victims of Katrina," Mr. Christie said, ticking off how long it took for Congress to pass relief after other natural disasters. "For the victims of Sandy in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, there's been sixty-six days and the wait continues. There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House Majority and their speaker, John Boehner....Last night, politics was placed before our oath to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

Mr. Christie, a Republican like Mr. Boehner, went on to describe the House's GOP majority as "selfish" and "toxic."

"It just could not overcome the toxic, internal politics of the House Majority," Mr. Christie said of the bill. "Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress, which places one-upmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to Washington D.C. in the first place. New Jerseyans and New Yorkers are tired of being treated like second-class citizens. New York deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. New Jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw last night. America deserves better than yet another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why. Sixty-six days and counting. Shame on you. Shame on Congress. "

Asked afterwards if he understood why the vote had been canceled, Mr. Christie said he was left completely in the dark.

"I was given no explanation," he said. "I was called at 11:20 last night by Leader Cantor and was told that he was told authority for the vote was pulled by the Speaker. Our delegation asked for a meeting with the Speaker at the time; they were refused. I called the Speaker four times last night after 11:20 and he did not take my calls....There's no reason for me to believe anything they tell me, because they've been telling me stuff for weeks. And they didn't deliver."

Update (3:09 p.m.): Here's the video:

Breezy Point, Queens after the storm, on October 30th. (Photo: Getty)

Unsurprisingly, the governors of the two states most ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, New Yorker's Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey's Chris Christie, are not pleased with the Republican leadership in House of Representatives after they decided to not take up relief legislation last night. To emphasize their displeasure, the two released a joint statement criticizing the chamber for the move.

"With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable," they said. "It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bi-partisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night."

The statement added, "The people of our states can no long afford to wait while politicians in Washington play games."

Mr. Christie, a Republican, and Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, are joined in their criticism by local officials of both parties throughout their two states, as well as House Democrats like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Cory Booker (Photo: YouTube)

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is now considering a 2014 run for the Senate seat currently occupied by 88-year-old Frank Lautenberg after mounting speculation he would challenge incumbent New Jersey Governor Chris Christie next year. On the internet, a close advisor to Mr. Booker has prepped for both a gubernatorial campaign and Senate bid. Records show Mr. Booker's fundraising advisor and former City Hall staffer Bari Mattes has purchased the web domains for both "BookerForSenate" and BookerForGovernor.

Update (3:48 p.m.): Ms. Mattes has also registered "CoryBookerForPresident.com."

Ms. Mattes registered BookerForSenate.com, BookerForSenate.net and BookerForGovernor.net on May 15, 2010. She registered BookerForGovernor.com on May 24, 2010. All of the domains expire in May 2014. In March of this year, she registered CoryBookerForPresident.com. The presidential site expires in 2013.

Mr. Booker is thought to be one of Democrats' best chances to unseat Mr. Christie. However, Mr. Christie's handling of Hurricane Sandy and his subsequent embrace of President Barack Obama was a public relations coup for the governor. A Quinnipiac poll of New Jersey voters released last month showed, though Mr. Booker has the strongest chances of any Democrat against Mr. Christie, the incumbent would handily defeat him in a potential matchup 53 percent to 35 percent. In October, a Quinnipiac poll found a hypothetical race between Mr. Booker and Mr. Christie would be much tighter with the governor holding a slim 46 percent to 42 percent lead.

In a December 9 interview on CBS' Face The Nation Mr. Booker said he would make a decision about whether to run for governor within two weeks. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Booker is still mulling the choice.

Politicker reached out to both Mr. Booker and Ms. Mattes for this story. As of this writing, we have yet to receive a response.

Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo marching in the 2006 Columbus Day Parade. (Photo: Getty)

With both Hillary Clinton and Governor Andrew Cuomo considered potential 2016 presidential candidates, the latest poll from the Siena Research Institute contains several numbers that will be of interest to early watchers of their potential bids. Siena polled favorability ratings for both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Cuomo and asked New Yorkers whether they'd like to see either run for president four years from now. 

The poll found Mr. Cuomo has a favorable rating of 72 percent among New York voters and Ms. Clinton's favorability was at 75 percent. Though Ms. Clinton's numbers were slightly higher, Mr. Cuomo has more bipartisan support. Ms. Clinton scored favorability ratings of 90 percent among Democrats and 50 percent with Republicans while Mr. Cuomo scored relatively high among both groups with 76 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans saying they have a favorable impression of the governor.

A majority of New York voters, 54 percent, said they'd like to see Ms. Clinton run for president in 2016. However, just 39 percent said they wanted to see Mr. Cuomo run for president in four years. Though New Yorkers didn't exactly seem enthused about the prospect of Mr. Cuomo making a White House bid, 62 percent said they'd like to see him run for re-election as governor.

Along with Mr. Cuomo and Ms. Clinton, Siena polled New Yorkers on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who's also viewed as a potential 2016 contender. The poll found 63 percent have a favorable impression of Mr. Christie with more than 60 percent of both Democrats and Republicans saying they had a positive view of the Garden State Governor.

(Photo: Getty)

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a likely mayoral candidate in 2013, can now be counted as a firm critic of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's handling of Hurricane Sandy.

"You remember the recent diplomatic phrase, 'leading from behind,'" Mr. de Blasio mused on Assemblyman Dov Hikind's radio show last night. "I think many times the mayor was not exactly on the front line. He was no Chris Christie, let's say that."

New York voters actually rated New Jersey's governor extremely favorably in a recent survey on the topic, so Mr. de Blasio's comment didn't exactly come out of left field. After Mr. Hikind, a frequent critic of Mr. Bloomberg's, accused the mayor of being "afraid" to go to the communities struggling in the storm's aftermath, Mr. de Blasio concurred and elaborated.

"He showed a tremendous unwillingness to be where the people were and where people were in need," he explained. "I went to the city and I said a lot of our seniors in the big buildings--whether it was public housing, whether it was the Mitchell-Lama buildings down in Coney Island and other areas--a lot of them went one week, two weeks, more without heat or hot water. No one from the city ever came to knock on the door. No one ever came to check to make sure they could get their medications when electricity was out, pharmacies were closed. So the mayor's attitude was very much hands-off."

In Mr. Bloomberg's defense, over the past couple weeks he repeatedly toured the damage and held press conferences in hard-hit neighborhoods. Additionally, the mayor did launch a program of medical teams going door-to-door in high-rise buildings, but Mr. de Blasio argued their outreach was insufficient.

Regardless, Mr. de Blasio's criticism reflects a new political reality that the 2013 mayoral race is underway again after the weather-induced hiatus. Indeed, one of his chief electoral rivals, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, went on Mr. Hikind's show last week to similarly allege Mr. Bloomberg hasn't spent enough time "being out there" in the city.

"It could be very, very soon," Mr. de Blasio said of next year's campaign. "Attention is starting to turn. Understandably, the attention has rightfully been on the hurricane and its aftermath in the last few weeks. But I think in the coming weeks, particularly when we get into the new year, attention is going to turn very intensely to the fact that we're going to choose a new mayor. We're going to choose a new leader after what will be 12 years of Michael Bloomberg. As you and I would be the first to say, some joys and sorrows in the Bloomberg years. I think, for many people, particularly in the outer boroughs, [there's] a real sense that City Hall is not paying enough attention to our neighborhoods. For many, many people in this community--and I'm thinking about what happened with childcare vouchers, among many other issues--a sense of really being left behind. This is going to be a chance to debate where we need to go as a city, which I look forward to."

(Photo: Getty)

Is it the wet fleece? It's not immediately clear, but according to a new Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey, New York City voters gave the highest storm response-marks to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, preferring his tactics over President Barack Obama, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Quinnipiac's director, Maurice Carroll, said these numbers can be attributed to Mr. Christie's full embrace of Mr. Obama in the wake of the storm.

"The storm-of-the-century brings out the best in Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Yorkers say. But that love fest between New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie and President Barack Obama seems to have moved voters especially," Mr. Carroll explained in a statement. "While all four leaders get very high marks - it seems a hug or two never hurts."

A total of 89 percent of New Yorkers voters said Mr. Christie's response was "excellent" or "good," with, 85 percent doing the same for Mr. Cuomo, 84 percent for Mr. Obama and 75 percent for Mr. Bloomberg. Placed side-by-side and asked to choose who was the best, Mr. Christie still came out on top with a 36 percent plurality.

Even though Mr. Bloomberg trails the leader pack in terms of ratings, Quinnipiac found his overall approval score to be the highest it's been in two years, 56 percent, undoubtedly helped by his management of the crisis. A huge 85 percent majority supported his decision to ration gasoline, for example.

But the biggest winner of all may be Mr. Bloomberg's now-famous sign language interpreter, Lydia Callis, who has an approve-disapprove ratio most politicians would drool over, 53 - 2 percent.

"Is it what she says, or the way she says it? Whatever, mayoral signer Lydia Callis is almost as popular as her boss," Mr. Carroll said.

More below:

(Photo: TheDailyShow.com)

The Daily Show has been off-air since the start of Hurricane Sandy, but the show came roaring back to life last night and managed to give props to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Governor Chris Christie, all in his new segment, "A Daily Show Tribute to Institutional Competence."

But Jon Stewart could still get some traditional comedic digs in, pulling out a big soda cup, for example, before discussing Mr. Bloomberg and quipping, "I think we all agree, if these cups were still legal, maybe the city wouldn't have flooded at all."

"But that's not the point, the point is Mayor Bloomberg kicked ass at his job, and he did it in two languages," Mr. Stewart continued, showing Mr. Bloomberg speaking Spanish at one of his disaster press briefings. "Alright, that might sound like what happens when you walk in on your Rabbi practicing with his Rosetta Stone."

Mr. Stewart even addressed the city's now-famous sign language interpreter, which you can view along with everything else, here or below:

Rudy Giuliani talking with reporters in the "spin room" ahead of last night's presidential debate in Denver. (Photo: Getty)

The insta-verdict espoused almost universally by political pundits after last night's presidential debate is that Mr. Romney emerged with a victory over President Barack Obama. Rather predictably, Mr. Romney's fellow Republicans from the tri-state area, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey  Governor Chris Christie, agreed with this assessment. Shortly after the debate, the Romney campaign distributed statements from Messrs. Giuliani and Christie in which they called the evening a "clear" victory for Mr. Romney.

Mr. Giuliani, who served as a "spin room" surrogate for Mr. Romney at the debate in Denver, gave the president some credit by describing Mr. Romney's performance as especially remarkable given Mr. Obama's strong public speaking skills:

"Mitt Romney came away with a clear win tonight. That he was successful in communicating his message of a real recovery in a debate against one of the best orators in a generation speaks not only to Gov. Romney’s preparation, but also to the veracity of his argument. The choice voters face this November is between another four years of economic stagnation that fosters government dependency versus an agenda based on free enterprise that will create 12 million jobs, jumpstart our economy, and restore an opportunity society that fosters success and wealth for all Americans."

Mr. Christie wasn't nearly as magnanimous towards the president, who he described as "unable to articulate any plan for the future:"

"Mitt Romney was the clear winner tonight. He talked about his record of bringing people together to solve problems and his plan to create jobs and foster economic opportunity for all Americans. President Obama, on the other hand, was unable to articulate any plan for the future except another four years of the same failed, tax-hiking, government-growing policies that have resulted in 23 million Americans struggling for work, 47 million Americans on food stamps, and countless struggling small businesses. The candidates presented two very different visions for our country's future, and it's clear Mitt Romney is the one who will bring the real recovery Americans need."

Of course, partisans on both sides are expected to declare their man the winner. What's really crucial is how the American public scored the debate. CNN/ORC International released a rapid response poll of 430 people who watched the debate that showed 67 percent of viewers believed Mr. Romney was victorious compared to 25 percent who though Mr. Obama came out on top. It does indeed seem Mr. Romney bested his rival tonight, what remains to be seen is whether a win in one debate is enough for Mr. Romney to put a significant dent in the lead President Obama is currently enjoying in key swing state polls.

Mitt Romney on stage at the RNC. (Photo: Getty)

TAMPA, FL -- It's fitting that one of the most enduring images of the 2012 Republican National Convention was Clint Eastwood's empty chair, since the main purpose of the confab was crowning Mitt Romney as the titular leader of the party, finally filling the seat of GOP power that has remained more or less vacant since John McCain was vanquished by President Barack Obama four years ago.

As the saying goes, when you play the game of thrones, you either win or you die. After his defeat in 2008, Mr. McCain didn’t even bother joining the primary combatants vying to lead the elephant herd into battle against President Obama in this year's race. His second, Sarah Palin, didn't have a place in the primaries or at the convention in Tampa. Instead, she was banished to her Facebook page, where she railed against her overlords at Fox News for canceling all of her scheduled appearances, in which she’d hoped to take to the airwaves in praise of Mr. McCain on the night of his RNC cameo.

Like any coronation, last week’s convention was supposed to be a time for Mr. Romney's fellow Republicans to rally around him and march into combat by his side. However, the ascent of the House of Romney was accomplished without the blessing of the conservative and libertarian factions of the party. As a result, Tampa became a theater for the sorts of behind-the-scenes drama, intrigue and power plays that so often accompany these matters of dynastic succession. Though ostensibly acting as standard bearers for Mr. Romney, the other lords of the GOP seemed to be more interested in plotting their own ascendancies four years from now than in following Mitt into battle against President Obama.

Mr. Romney’s erstwhile primary rival, Rick Santorum, took the stage Tuesday night to deliver a speech that movingly detailed his own family history while pausing to mention the nominee by name just three times. The following night, when Mr. Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, addressed the convention, Mr. Santorum didn’t even show up. Rather, he could be found in the CNN Grill, a makeshift restaurant set up by the cable news network outside the RNC proceedings, where he dined with his family and top aides.

And then there was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s keynote address. Mr. Christie reportedly declined an offer to serve as Mr. Romney’s running mate because fundraising rules would have forced him to relinquish his governorship in order to maximize potential presidential campaign contributions—and because he doubted Mr. Romney’s chances in November.

On Wednesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, another former rival of Mr. Romney’s, offered some remarks before the RNC attendees in which he invoked Mr. Romney’s name just once. The inclusion of the younger Mr. Paul, and a tribute video hailing his father, were reportedly efforts to placate their fervent supporters, the Paulites. No such luck. Despite these displays of graciousness, the Paulites repeatedly disrupted Mr. Romney’s coronation by staging dramatic walkouts and regularly shouting for both Paul the father and Paul the son during the festivities.

On the final night of the convention, Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced Mr. Romney. He dutifully named the candidate six times, however, Mr. Rubio’s rousing speech left many observers wondering why he’d been passed over for the veep spot and where he'll be four years from now. (Several commentators compared his prime-time address to Mr. Obama’s star turn during the 2004 DNC.) Mr. Rubio possesses three things Mr. Romney lacks: relative youth, a gift for public speaking and the admiration of the Republicans’ Tea Party faction. This trio of political advantages may have made it impossible for Mr. Rubio not to upstage the man he was meant to introduce and, indeed, from the convention floor it seemed his speech engendered a far more electric response from the crowd than Mr. Romney’s.

Even Mr. Ryan, the most important member of Mr. Romney’s court, didn’t focus his convention address entirely on the campaign message. Mr. Romney has disavowed the budget proposal that had become Mr. Ryan’s signature in Washington and was initially adopted by his fellow Republican lawmakers, but there was the vice presidential candidate on stage casting a discordant note by touting the “good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems” that he and the congressional Republicans proposed for the budget.

What the speeches largely had in common was that they promised an election victory and a subsequent renaissance for the American kingdom following the dark ages of the financial crisis. These optimistic orations were offered within a fortress of metal gates and concrete barriers guarded by a massive contingent of police officers, Secret Service agents and National Guardsmen. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who has served in the halls of government since 1977, told The Observer the security surrounding the convention “event zone” was unprecedented.

“I’ve been to ten of these, I’ve never had as much trouble getting around as I have here,” the old lawmaker said. “It’s a different world right now. Terrorism and all these other things are scaring everybody to death.”

Indeed, outside the fortified ramparts of the convention, many of the forces threatening the Republican Party were amassed—shouting, chanting and otherwise calling for Mr. Romney’s head on a pike. The delegates and other RNC attendees run a gauntlet of these fearsome creatures, including disgruntled Paulites, Occupiers and religious zealots. One group we saw was led by a fiery preacher named Ruben Israel, who brandished a pair of the sacred temple garments worn by members of the Mormon Church.

“This is the holy underwear that Mitt Romney wears,” Mr. Israel shouted through his megaphone. “You going to vote for a guy that puts this stuff on? You going to think that God is going to honor this?”

Though small groups of demonstrators managed to infiltrate the Forum and briefly interrupt the speeches made by both Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan, they failed to halt the proceedings. However, they were a troubling indicator that, whomever wins the election in November, winter may be coming for the Republican Party as internal discord on the right wing mounts. Could it be that some of those who are supposed to rallying behind the nominee believe they could do a better job fending off the impending threats to the party than the current candidate? Whether due to such calculations or to cold ambition, there was a palpable sense in Tampa that many of the high-profile leaders assembled for the convention were more concerned with their positioning for 2016 than they were with Mr. Romney's race.

In spite of this potentially toxic cloud of competing interests and aspirations swirling around Mr. Romney's coronation, the ceremony was not without its revelries and feasting. On the convention floor, the attendees seemed unaware of any discord and cheered each time a speaker uttered the party's newly-minted credo, “We Built That!” After each day's convention activities concluded, hordes of delegates, elected officials and their chroniclers, the political press corps, mingled and imbibed at a series of invite-only parties scattered across Tampa.

Along with these fetes for the standard convention crowd, there was also a parallel convention of sorts for the elite megarich donors who have been fueling those conservative super PACs, complete with private parties, concerts and an exclusive event on board a yacht during which backers schmoozed with Mr. Romney’s close relatives. One set of events aimed at women took place in a pavilion temporarily named for Dr. Miriam Adelson, the wife of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has pledged to give over $70 million to Republican groups in this election cycle.

In this election, President Obama has raised about eighty percent more in traditional campaign contributions for his war chest than Mr. Romney has. This cash imbalance means the Republicans’ dream of seeing their party’s rulers retake the White House is entirely reliant  on the largesse of extremely wealthy individual super PAC donors. With the GOP’s presidential prospects dependent on these moneyed moguls, those who took the stage at the convention itself could be seen as merely pawns with the real kings of the party operating behind the scenes.

On the floor on Thursday, the final night of the convention, we spoke with one of the most controversial conservative kingmakers, David Koch, who along with his brother, Charles, owns what is reportedly America’s second largest privately held company and has pumped an estimated $400 million into this election. Mr. Koch, who was attending as a member of the New York State delegation, dismissed criticism of the influence he and his fellow megadonors have begun to exercise on the nation’s political process.

“We have a free society and people are free to do what they want, you know, as long as they don’t hurt others and they obey the law,” Mr. Koch said. “So, I believe in free speech and if people want to spend money in politics or something else, it’s their right, nothing wrong with that. So, I endorse that.”

Not long after, Mr. Romney made his way to the stage to deliver a speech that would be the convention’s grand finale. As he waded through the crowd shaking hands, the candidate paused briefly by the New York delegation, clasped Mr. Koch’s hand, grabbed his shoulder and exchanged a few pleasantries.

It’s good to be the king. The question was just which man held the title.