All through the soap opera that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s tenure has become, the man has stuck to the same line of defense. He hasn’t done anything wrong, though he’s “sorry” if anyone was offended because they “misunderstood” his words and deeds. He’s refusing to resign and wants everyone to just be patient and wait for the results of the investigations into his actions to be complete. Up until now, that’s worked fairly well for him. While his popularity has taken a beating from all of the bad press he’s received, he’s still managed to keep his head above water in the polls. That may finally be changing, however. A new Sienna poll dropped today and Cuomo’s numbers have continued to slide. The real surprise in this survey is the identity of the person who may be benefitting more than anyone else from this news, and that would be New York Attorney General Letitia James. (NY Post)
More New Yorkers think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign, a new poll shows, as the embattled pol faces multiple investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and a federal probe into his administration’s potential coverup of thousands of nursing home deaths throughout the pandemic…
Meanwhile, 42 percent of those surveyed think Cuomo has committed sexual harassment, 24 percent replied he has not done so and 34 percent are either undecided or don’t know.
Democrats are torn three ways on the matter — as 32 percent said he has committed sexual harassment, 33 percent answered that he has not and 34 percent responded they either don’t know or have no opinion.
Sticking with the raw numbers for Cuomo for a moment, he still hasn’t cratered entirely. In terms of whether he should resign or not, 41% said he should while 49% said no. He’s still ahead in that statistic, but last month the figures were 37/51, so he’s dropped five points.
Another key figure to watch is the percentage of voters who would prefer to elect an unnamed “somebody else” instead of Cuomo. That number has now risen to 53% as compared to just 37% who would give him another term.
That brings us to the question of who that “someone else” might be. If you read the report from the Post, a significant portion of the poll is dedicated to asking questions about Attorney General Letitia James. When Sienna tosses her name into the mix, she overperforms by a considerable margin, and Cuomo’s numbers sink. Thus far, James has been acting coy and not saying anything about a potential run against Cuomo in the primary, but she still has plenty of time. But why would Sienna waste time polling someone who has no interest in entering the race?
This isn’t too difficult to parse out. James entered the political scene as an unabashed partisan with an eye on higher office and political influence. She’s never shown much interest in actually being the Attorney General. She ran on a platform promising to “resist” Donald Trump and help to bring him down. And that’s precisely what she’s been focused on. That’s why I was somewhat surprised when she quickly announced that her office would be conducting an investigation into Cuomo’s various scandals. You normally wouldn’t see her going after a fellow Democrat if it could be avoided.
Is the picture starting to come into focus yet? Letitia James hasn’t tried to hide the fact that she has her eyes on bigger things. At the moment, Cuomo’s political career is hanging by a thread and the press continues to beat him up as the investigation drags on and more accusers come forward. And who just happens to be at the controls of that investigation? James is positioned to blow up Cuomo’s prospects by releasing a report suggesting he’s crossed the line and needs to go. And she’s also setting herself up as an inside favorite to move into his mansion after Cuomo’s political funeral is concluded.
This is the epitome of New York insider politics playing out in public and nobody is even trying to hide it. Break out the popcorn and settle in for an extended display of political moxie.
