Commentary
If Trump was afraid of facing Biden, he must be REALLY afraid of facing Cuomo!
As I do every day, this morning I watched New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conference on the Covid-19 pandemic.
As usual, Cuomo was informative and serious (with a bit of humor thrown in every once-in-while to break the tension). His presentation today, like all the others, was organized. Using graphic assists where appropriate, he made his pronouncements with confidence, authority and, most important, veracity.
Prior to the Cuomo press conference, one White House correspondent reported that President Trump is raging that Cuomo is getting so much praise for the professionalism and leadership he’s shown during these daily televised conferences. In fact, administration insiders are suggesting one reason Trump is appearing at, and taking the lead, in the daily White House coronavirus task force press briefings is that he wants to show Cuomo up.
Sorry, Mr. President, if that’s your plan, it’s not working. Cuomo is showing solid leadership; you’re spouting lies and false information.
As Lucien Truscott IV (grandson of one of the U.S. Army’s greatest WW II generals) wrote the other day in Salon.com:
“The entirety of Trump’s re-election campaign is being televised as he appears every day with his “task force” in the White House press room. He stands there backed up by a panoply of simpering, sold-out, suck-up enablers who may as well be wearing MAGA hats and waving “Trump-Pence” placards. The “task force” briefings are Trump’s new rallies. They’re televised by all the major cable networks without commercial interruption. They run Trump’s lies without real-time corrections. Every day he has said that he “inherited a broken, old testing system, and we’ve fixed that system.” Lie. He has implied that somehow the Obama administration did something to limit the number of tests they could have been running. Lie. He repeatedly brags that he’s doing things that “have never been done before.” Lie. He says over and over again that he’s done “more than anyone” to fight the virus. Lie.”
Truscott goes on to say, “The situation is getting better because Trump says it’s getting better. Here are my experts! Look! There’s Doctor Shoulder Scarf! Watch her nodding like a bobblehead as I make my pronouncements, and just listen to the thanks my experts lavish on me!”
And it seems to be working. A new ABC/Ipsos poll found 55 percent approving of Trump’s leadership in the crisis, versus 43 percent disapproving, an about-face from last week’s numbers. No wonder, the White House is taking advantage of this crisis by, as Truscott writes, transforming “the golfer-in-chief” into the “wartime president.”
So, it’s time to address the “elephant in the room” and ask the $64 Question, the question that I know many, many Democratic voters are asking: “Why isn’t Andrew Cuomo running for president?”
I bet, despite his earlier impeachable attempts at discrediting Joe Biden, that with Cuomo showing the presidential-type leadership that Trump is incapable of showing, Trump is really glad he’s running against “Sleepy Joe” and not “Mafia Andrew”. (Full disclosure: Trump has not come up with a derisive nickname for Cuomo yet. But when he does, I’m sure “Mafia Andrew” will be a contender).
Why didn’t Cuomo run? Did he not want the spotlight? Is he not liberal or progressive enough for the national party? Is he too “rough around the edges?” Did his closeness to, and fondness of, Joe Biden stop any 2020 presidential ambitions? Is there really a Cuomo family/Mafia connection?
Who knows?
But one thing we do know…he’s showing that he’s the leader that Democrats, that the country, that the world needs now.
And with all due respect to Joe Biden, who I’m supporting (like I have a choice), Andrew Cuomo is the person right now who can defeat Donald Trump. And do so handily.
So, what’s the next step? Here’s what I think.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders should immediately withdraw their candidacies with one binding stipulation: They will do so only if all their pledged delegates transfer their affiliation to Andrew Cuomo. And they should do it now. Because, let’s face it folks, given the current situation, there’s no guarantee that there will be a Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July. We need to sort it out now.
With Cuomo locked in, there will be no need for anymore primary campaigning or electioneering. Cuomo won’t have to take his eye off the Covid-19 ball and can continue to do the excellent job he’s currently doing. And, perhaps with his designation as the presumptive Democratic nominee, he’ll also have the credibility to spread his wisdom to other states as well.
And while he’s leading the fight against the pandemic, Biden, DNC chair Tom Perez and yes, even Barack Obama, can lead the political fight against Trump.
Now that’s I plan I can get behind.
I feel better already!
Around the Block 
I’m in love with the gov❣️
Sent from my iPad
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Glad you are feeling better—-but Andrew might have a hard time —do Americans have the smarts about Cuomo??
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“Feeling better” because I’ve been toying with it for a few days and finally found an angle. But too late, probably.
But as I replied to a comment, “wishful thinking:”
“Agree…but difficult times call for bold ideas. Not that the DNC would ever be accused of having bold, or any for that matter, ideas. If only someone, anyone would whisper this into Biden’s ear, he’s a mensch and might do it. Maybe pay him off with SecState appointment. Stranger things have happened and these are strange times!”
And regarding Americans and Cuomo, frankly not many outside NY even know him. And he’s controversial there, particularly among progressives. But what we’ve learned from these pressers, is that he is one of the most capable political leaders in the country. So why not go beyond convention and bring competence back to the White House. We can even have MACA hats made (Blue, of course): MAKE AMERICA COMPETENT AGAIN
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Ted, how can I buy a full page ad somewhere, that says:
“Mr. President, how many people, and in what manner, do you want to kill to be RE-elected?”
Or, send this to every Senator? The stupid $$ package must be include $$ to companies requiring them to pay employees, rather than 50 million checks in the mail, arriving on the funeral day.
Please help me find a way. Sent from my iPhone-thanks for the email.
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There are so many issues here.
1. Re: my Cuomo scenario — sure a pipe dream. But here’s the deal. This pandemic is allowing Trump to suck all the O2 out of the room. And yes, his performance is a complete bungle. But apparently so many people don’t care, or are so incredibly dumb, his approval rating on handling the crisis is in the mid-50’s, up 10 points. Meanwhile, Biden, his presumptive opponent seems to be in seclusion; see this (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/politics/joe-biden-2020-virus.html) and the only Dem voice of authority is Cuomo. And he’s not running!
2. He’s going to kill a many more if he loosens the restrictions next week as he seems to be leaning to. That should cause a revolt by blue state govs. But, for what good. They have no power
3. Re: the Senate. I think although the Dems are right in blocking the bill, they’re losing the PR battle. And that’s all that counts. The fact that the R’s want to allow unrestricted Mnuchin access to $500B and the overseer is going to be Trump is, in a word, absurd. In another word, it’s shameless. But at the end of the day, who will be the bad guys who held up the magnificent one-time sum of $1,200 to some Americans? The Dems!
4. We’ve entered this crisis with the worst person in the world to lead our cause…Chuck Schumer. He’s a hot head (the Roberts incident two weeks ago was unconscionable) and seems incapable of making a deal (not that anyone can really make a deal with McConnell). The most reasonable D in the Senate is Chris Coons and he’s not participating in the leadership discussions. Again, not one iota of leadership in this party. it’s disgraceful.
Let’s talk
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