{"id":4752,"date":"2011-09-06T06:44:36","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T10:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=4752"},"modified":"2011-09-06T06:44:36","modified_gmt":"2011-09-06T10:44:36","slug":"looking-presidential-gov-cuomo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2011\/09\/06\/looking-presidential-gov-cuomo-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking presidential, Gov. Cuomo?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So let me start with a modern reality that many In Box readers will hate:\u00a0 disasters are political events.<\/p>\n

From President George Bush’s handling of Katrina to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s approach to last year’s Christmas snowstorm in Manhattan, elected officials are graded on their responses.<\/p>\n

Do they look authoritative?\u00a0 Do they get results?\u00a0 Do they have a common touch, maintaining control of fast-moving events while also showing one-on-one compassion for people who are suffering?<\/p>\n

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was catapulted into the highest tier of American politics by managing to do all those things effectively following the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to Irene and Andrew Cuomo.\u00a0 During his visit yesterday to Keene, it wasn’t difficult to see how people are gauging his leadership so far.\u00a0 He drew hugs and praise everywhere he went.<\/p>\n

Asked by NCPR about the Democratic governor’s performance, Republican state Senator Betty Little gave him an “A+.”\u00a0 She later upgraded her report card to “A++”.<\/p>\n

So far, at least, it’s hard to fault Gov. Cuom’s get-it-done performance.\u00a0 Even before Irene hit, he marshaled a smaller, leaner state government and put it to work.<\/p>\n

The optics yesterday were just about right, too.\u00a0 The governor wore a pair of work boots that didn’t look too new, or too shiny.\u00a0 He wore a pair of lived-in blue jeans that actually fit kind of clumsily.\u00a0 You know, the way regular guys dress.<\/p>\n

He also has the common sense to avoid Michael Dukakis-style theatrics.\u00a0 No climbing clumsily onto a backhoe or donning a fireman’s hat.<\/p>\n

It’s fair to point out that there was a time, not so long ago, when Andrew Cuomo didn’t show this kind of confidence.\u00a0 In 2002, during his first gubernatorial campaign, he stumbled badly, appearing over-eager and impulsive.<\/p>\n

His 2005 divorce from Kerry Kennedy suggested a breach between two of America’s political dynasties and drew oceans of nasty ink in New York City’s tabloid press.\u00a0 “Nightmare in Camelot,” read one headline.<\/p>\n

That all feels a long time ago.<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s not a sure thing that Cuomo’s adroit handling of the state’s fiscal crisis and his confident leadership after Irene will open a path to the White House.\u00a0 That road is never straight or sure, as the governor’s father could tell him.<\/p>\n

But in 2016, the Democratic nomination will be wide open and Cuomo will be 59 years old.\u00a0 It’s hard to imagine that his name won’t be on a very short list of top contenders.<\/p>\n

So what do you think?\u00a0 Are you satisfied with the governor’s handling of Irene?\u00a0 Do you think he has higher political aspirations?\u00a0 As always, your comments welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So let me start with a modern reality that many In Box readers will hate:\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[22,5614,6523,20],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4755,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752\/revisions\/4755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}