Cuo Vadis?

Where are you heading, Andrew Cuomo?

Right after the horrible mass murder at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, the fallen prince of Albany acted like he was still lording over New York State as he did for a decade.

Handsy Andy went before the congregation at the True Bethel Baptist Church just a day after the other New York State politicians spoke.  

He railed against racism and took aim at flabby gun control laws and he preached love, love, love.

What the heck he is up to?  Could he possibly run again for governor?

Let’s try to figure this out by assessing the facts.

Fact one: Cuomo doesn’t believe he did anything wrong.  In fact, he’s never believed he’s ever done anything wrong.

Because five district attorneys declined to prosecute sexual harassment allegations against him, he feels he has been vindicated.  As a former attorney general, that’s the way his mind works.  

Also in his mind, he didn’t cover up the deaths of 4100 nursing home patients during COVID and he didn’t send thousands more to their deaths when he ordered them back to their healthcare facilities.  He was the king of Corona, not its coroner.

In his mind, he was a strong, anti-crime governor, never mind that he’s the one who signed New York’s anti-bail legislation into law.

His ego is gargantuan.  He wrote a book about his amazing feats of heroism during COVID.  His head almost burst from adulation over his 87 percent approval rating.  TV hosts and pundits fawned over him.  Everyone wanted a Cuomosexual t-shirt! 

Fact two: Cuomo holds onto grudges as tightly as a boa constrictor squeezes its prey.  As veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told Politico, “This is not a guy who forgets.  The only question is when he tries to get even, and whether it’s upfront or behind the scenes.”

Fact three: Cuomo has lots of money at his disposal left over from his last campaign. More than 16-million bucks.  That can buy lots of TV time and social media ads.

Former Governor George Pataki (who, by the way, defeated Andrew’s dad Mario in his bid for a fourth term) is praying for a possible Andrew Cuomo re-run for governor.  He said, “it would be the best thing that ever happened to the state because he would get crushed and in the process almost guarantee a Republican victory.”

But Pataki doesn’t believe Cuomo will run.  He says Cuomo knows he can’t win and doesn’t want to be embarrassed by a crushing defeat.

I respect Pataki’s opinion but I’m not on board with it.  Here’s why:

Cuomo’s body and soul was wrapped up in being governor.  It was his entire life.  His only home was the governor’s mansion. He was on the verge of surpassing his father with a fourth term in office and they ripped it from him.  Who? All those New York Democrat politicians from Chuck Schumer on down, who Andrew pissed off over the years.

In Andrew Cuomo’s head he is the victim of a witch-hunt (ha!) and he’s seething!

Now, he is focused on only one thing;  how can he screw them back?  

They’ve ruined his life? He will ruin theirs.

He knows he can muster enough votes to sink Kathy Hochul and get Republican Lee Zeldin elected governor.

A recent PIX11/The Hill/Emerson College poll found that about 16 percent of New York voters would support Andrew Cuomo if he ran for governor again.  That’s just enough to put a Republican within spitting distance of the state house.  

A Republican governor in New York would be a huge shift in power.  Think of the governor’s power of patronage, the power to veto bills, the power to set the budget.  And perhaps the greatest power of all, the power to command media attention in New York City, the largest market in the nation.

Retribution? Retaliation? Revenge? Is that what’s motivating Andrew Cuomo?

Or maybe, just maybe, the Cuomo from Queens is angling for a deal with the New York Dems.  Something like, “Hey pals, I’ll stay out of the race and give Hochul a shot at winning and in return I get…”  

What’s the “get”?  I dunno, but I do know that Cuomo is as slick and as street savvy as they come.  He was suckled on the mother’s milk of New York politics and that means back room wheeling and dealing. He knows that without somethin’ you get nuthin’. 

Andrew’s always a few moves ahead in political poker and I haven’t known him to bluff.

The Democrats may want to ante up before the hustler from Holliswood cashes in his chips and leaves them in the political poorhouse, not in the statehouse.