Why Cuomo And Not Clinton?

The current predicament for New York Gov Andrew Cuomo represents a remarkable reversal. As of late 2020, Cuomo was promoted, according to The New Republic,

as “America’s governor,” a competent executive who had steered his state through a crisis and who, potentially, could be a Democratic presidential frontrunner in 2024 or 2028.

In November, he received an Emmy:

"The Governor's 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure," the academy's president and CEO, Bruce Paisner, explained in a statement announcing the decision. "People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back."

Although the nursing home COVID scandal was a slight impediment, it's had notiong like the impact of the current sexual harassment scandal that could potentially bring him down. As I've posted before, this is C+ horndog stuff, at worst oblique propositions, furtive grabs and gropes. The complaint from the right is that there are demands for his resignation over this, but not over the thousands of COVID deaths he's alleged to have caused and then covered up in New York nursing homes.

Contrast this with Bill Clinton, who was dogged with allegations that included rape throughout his career. Surviving an impeachment attempt involving another impropriety, his popularity was higher afterward than before it. For that matter, even for Joe Biden, gropes and sniffs caught on film, as well as credible accounts of naked swimming in front of female Secret Service agents, go beyond anything alleged against Cuomo. (Come to think of it, there must certainly be security footage of the naked swimming as well.)

But so far, calls for his resignation are coming from national and state figures in his own party. Impeachment by the majority-Democrat state assembly appears to be a foregone conclusion:

One Assembly member said “not a single voice of support” was expressed in favor of Cuomo during an emergency State Assembly conference on Tuesday.

. . . Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) said Tuesday after the meeting with colleagues that it’s “abundantly clear” that Cuomo needs to leave office one way or another.

On one hand, I would not rule out that the calls from national Democrats for Cuomo's resignation are just kabuki, a scramble to get on the right side of an issue that could well blow over, especially as other news grabs the headlines, Cuomo holds on, and an impeachment effort fizzles. But at best, Cuomo is now damaged merchandise, and he's actually part of a potential two-shoe drop with his fellow governor Newsom in California.

I don't actually think Cuomo's p;roblem is either sexual harassment or nursing home deaths. People want him out due to his handling of COVID, the lockdowns, social distancing, masks, closed restaurants, and Karens. At minimum, people are tired of a failed narrative and failed strategies, and they want new figures and a new start. It's no coincidence that the two most prominent "blue" governors who've promoted the strictest COVID controls are now the ones in deep political trouble.

A recent poll in California that shows 51% of likely voters in favor of recalling Newsom also says "Newsom’s coronavirus restrictions were given as the most important reason to recall him by 34% of the voters in the poll."

I think this is also the underlying question in New York. The examples of Clinton and Biden show that sexual harassment -- especially when it's minor in contrast to the national figures who get away with worse -- isn't an important issue. What's really going on is that people want a new approach to COVID. The political establishment hasn't yet grasped this.