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"The Little Big Town"
Column by Rhonda "Red" Blaine, The Cynical Fiery Nosy White Plains Redheaded Reporter

"Gee, Andrew...hate to tell you this, I'm so upset. Ms. R. regrets your fundraiser is canceled. You know how it is. Besides, we have something else in mind for you. How about Lieutenant Governor, or Mayor of New York?"

Andrew Cuomo hears footsteps from the new Lion King:

Move over Andy here comes "Pardon Me Bill."

It was a quiet morning in City Hall.

I was ready to kill for a column. Even take the Washington Post route and make up a source.

I was doing my best cute, spunky little redheaded reporter "Front Page" routine in City Hall today, carefully mixing my questions, appearing vulnerable, and simpatico when it hit me.

Just picture it:

Andrew "If George W. can do it, I can," Cuomo is sitting having coffee Wednesday morning, visions of Albany running in his head.

He's thinking his run for Governor is about to start.

He's thinking his wife is getting set to pick out his best tuxedo at the cleaners for his upcoming dinner party in The Big Town to raise funds for his gubernatorial run.

At last, he's going to move and schmooze with the power elite and his run will begin. All the apprenticeship, the HUD stuff, the paying the dues is about to pay off.

Not so fast, Cuomo II.

Denise (Rich) calls and says the party's off at her place (on 4 days notice).

Her ability to host his gubernatorial candidate debut, she says has been impaired by all the adverse pardoning publicity. Her posh apartment (venue to the rich and famous and well-heeled interests) to put him in touch with the liberal money has been canceled due to the torrent of distasteful publicity about the "Clintonistas' " eleventh hour pardoning of Ms. Rich's former husband Marc Rich.

He winds up having it at the Kenneth Cole shoe store and announcing his candidacy among the stilettos. How appropriate.

Wouldn't you feel a little paranoid? If you were Cuomo II.

Especially in view of New York's recent history.

Remember what happened to Nita, "Pal" Lowey?

Is it happening to Andrew, too?

Is Andrew Cuomo about to be "Lowey-ed?"

Just a short two years ago, Nita Lowey was being groomed to run for United States Senator from New York. Nita was the darling of the New York Democrats. She got the funding her backers wanted. No matter that they lived out of district. She backed the right issues. She played by the rules. Even though she did not have the statewide backing, she was the one to replace Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Senator with the great reputation and no legislation to show for it.

Then, inexplicably, at the height of the impeachment hysteria surrounding our former President, a "draft Hillary" movement began to bring Hillary Clinton to New York to run for Senator.

You remember. I'm a little hazy on the details (redheads live for the next story), so indulge me a little:

Charges of carpet-bagging surfaced, but were quickly squelched. Heavyweight image-makers and consultants were brought in to explore a Hillary candidacy.

Taking skilled advantage of her pathos as a woman wronged, the First Lady claimed New York residence based on her apartment in New York. Then the Clintonistas purchased a home in Chappaqua. Within two weeks, the media was calling them New Yorkers. I may be telescoping the events here, but you get the picture.

Besides I like to jump on conclusions.

Nita Lowey graciously moved aside.

It must have been galling for Nita to watch Mrs. Clinton traverse the state on her listening tour, glomming on, staking out "Nita's" issues as her own.

Hillary for Senator was dismissed at the time as preposterous, but amazingly, the media gave her credibility, "gravitas," and reported her beginning faux pas with softballs. They cut her big time slack, pards.

Yet, Nita Lowey, every Democrat's pal, was quietly asked to take her eyes off the prize, was quietly persuaded to stand aside to let the former First Lady conduct a "listening tour" of New York State to prepare for her run for Senator Moynihan's seat.

Well, you know the rest of the story.

Now, perhaps the same scenario is happening to Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo.

The young man has been groomed to run for governor in 2002. He has impeccable credentials (HUD, even very meaningful work with the homeless in Westchester).

His opposition: Governor George Pataki, one of the most popular governors New York has ever had is reported eyeing a third term. Tough, but perhaps beatable, and if The Immaculate Pataki decides not to run, I've got it, Cuomo thinks. He can feel the rush of the statehouse already. The thrill of the State Trooper escort.

(Where else is Pataki supposed to go? He has been shut out of the Bush Administration. He could run for Senator in 2004, given a successful third term candidacy. Most likely Pataki will run again in 2002 with the eye on the Senate in 04, taking on Schumer.)

But can nepotism work for the democrats as it did for the Bushes?

Does Andrew Cuomo have enough "j'ne sais quoi" to pull together the "Hillary Junta" to defeat George Pataki...or as my real life Lois Lane, Gail Collins, suggests in a column today, Rudolph Giuliani, if Pataki chooses not to run in 2002? But Gail is not speculating hard enough.

Would a proven winning husband and wife team do better against The Immaculate Pataki?

The Democrats need a win big time.

The election year 2002 is pivotal for the New York Democrats, the party is isolated to the media rich New York area for its power base. It has just had its issues trumped big time by the Republicans nationally.

To lose to the Pataki team a third time, is unacceptable and will discredit the old guard liberals of New York for all time.

Think of the Democrat position: They have no big time players who can stand up to Governor Pataki's record of achievement.

They could run John F. Kennedy, Jr., posthumously in a repeat of the successful Missouri strategy, but this is New York, not Missouri (but you never know).

Another candidate they could run posthumously would be John V. Lindsay. It has been 31 years since the Queens snowstorm debacle. (Maybe upstate would not remember.)

That leaves us, unfortunately, reduced to living candidates.

The living candidates to choose from leave a lot to be desired from this young lady's point of view.

Andrew Cuomo has a very comatose media presence, even though he is reasonably hunky (love his sensitive eyes). He has a really good issue base (the homeless). But, hey, no one covers his news conferences. Can he beat a popular incumbent? He does deliver on funding though, especially to this area.

Consider the other choices:

Charles Schumer will be in the middle of his term as U.S. Senator, he's not going to give that plum up.

Andrew Spano: Definitely an attractive man. A savvy politician and well-connected. And, he's a great interview. He has that New York base, has a considerable political campaign machine in place and if he wins in a walk in Westchester County this fall, he could very well go on his own listening tour of the state. His Department of Communications has gone on record to WPCNR as saying upstate New York deserves economic development aid before Westchester. Is that a campaign statement or what? Andy Spano definitely a possibility.

There is also a new New York resident on the horizon, our former Vice President, Albert Gore, who conveniently will be conducting journalism lectures at Columbia University. Perhaps he will be taking up residence in New York soon. (Perhaps a stay at Ms. Rich's apartment.) Ms. Collins' column in Friday's Times handicaps him as a possible New York City Mayoral candidate. I love Gail really, but Al Gore tramping through Queens, at a Mets game, dealing with Al Sharpton? He's not the type. New York would chew him up like it did John Lindsay. He might run for governor, but I do not think he'll have been a resident long enough.

H. Carl McCall? The Democratic Controller.

Is New York ready to elect a black man governor? Does McCall have the charisma to overcome Pataki. We think not. A Lieutenant Governor? Maybe. The head of the ticket, he's too financially based.

Elliot Spitzer? Another Democratic possibility. But, he has not cut a dashing figure. No major prosecutions. And just a little too clean cut and slick to suck in that upstate vote.

So there I was swinging my Manelo Blanik spike-heeled sandal back and forth trying to lull a source, when it hit me.

There is a charismatic Democrat now living in New York who is fresh out of a job.

There is a proven vote-getting Democrat with a Midas-like ability to attract oodles of cash.

He appears on TV every day. He knows how to put on the media blitz needed to hammer on Governor Pataki's record.

There is a man with incredible ability to connect with voters of all classes, especially the woman's vote.

There is a man who loves to campaign.

There is a man who can lie and say he's not lying and people believe him.

The ability to turn a phrase will be a prerequisite sorely needed in attacking the Pataki record of achievement on essentially Democratic Party issues: education, housing the handicapped and homeless, while stunningly building a consensus.

Can Andrew Cuomo do that? Maybe.

But who might do it better?

Who has been in office eight years without one major legislative achievement? Who loves the camera?

Who connects with the electorate better than any politician ever has?

I mean I voted for the lovable lug twice, just something about those blue eyes. Just call me irresponsible. And I'm a smart savvy lady, but human too. Just something about those lovable scoundrels, isn't there?

Yes, the more I think about it, if the Democrats could persuade "Pardon Me Bill" to run for Governor there would be instant credibility. Instant cache. The media would be galvanized by the story.

Governor Pataki who wiped out Mario Cuomo because the people of New York State were tired of Mario the Mouth, and blew away the no-name who ran against him in 1998 (I mean who was that Democratic candidate for Governor in 1998, can you name that candidate? And my swipe file is gone -- so I can't check it.)

And I'm on deadline.

I mean Bill Clinton is not going to run for office in New Hampshire. No money there. He's not going to run for Mayor of New York. That's a hard job.

Now Governor?

He's done that. He's qualified.

Hillary Clinton has already been the test-run. And she was a much harder sell to us "sophisticated" New Yorkers -- than her husband would be.

Why else would "Pardon Me Bill" make so many sure-to-be-unpopular pardons his last 24 hours in office? Compassion? Perhaps to fund a Hillary run for the Presidency? Maybe?

But, winning the governorship? He could do that, and sell Hillary all the harder in 2004 for the Presidency: "Return to Prosperity with The Clintons."

What did all his pardonees have in common: money. Pincus, Marc, the hustling Hassiddim. Big money. Money to be used to pay off legal bills (his own), fund a major campaign.

No, it was not compassion.

I'm sorry, sweetie.

Follow the money.

Trust me.

It was not compassion.

Pardon Me Bill has always been quite willing to let his subordinates take the fall for him. (Think Susan, Winston, Lanie, Monica, Paula, Gennifer.)

I may have been born yesterday, but not last night, as they say in Texas where I come from.

I must say a Clinton-Pataki race would be fun to cover. The race of the century in New York. Would Pardon Me Bill win? What do you think?

Would Andrew Cuomo, H. Carl McCall or Elliot Spitzer win?

Andrew Cuomo who?

As Ann Landers says...Andrew you better wake up and smell the cafe late.

There is a new 500-Pound gorilla with big markers to collect living in Chappaqua, and you are going to wait a long time to be king.

Like eight years maybe. Of course there's always lieutenant governor, or Mayor of New York.

It must be a real shock hearing your career end on the radio and you not even being told about it.

Rhonda "Red" Blaine is an observer of White Plains and Westchester politics and calls 'em as she sees them.