Hey California Democrats! Were you entertaining any thoughts about supporting Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Presidential Primary in 2016? Well, don’t. Just, don’t do it. Because whatever push he may have done for marriage equality in the state of New York, he’s a Lieberman-style villain who has betrayed the Democratic Party.
Go read Markos Moulitsas’ take for the full story. The bottom line is that even though Democrats have more seats in the New York State Senate than do Republicans, five Democrats formed the so-called “Independent Democratic Caucus” that is now affiliating with the champers Republicans and handing control to them. All with Cuomo’s tacit consent and approval: as Moulitsas says, Gov. Cuomo endorsed some Republicans for the Senate, and didn’t offer an opinion on which party he’d like to see control the chamber.
So bottom line? If you feel a sense of obligation to Cuomo because he got marriage equality in New York, I get it. But there will be plenty of Democratic candidates who strongly support marriage equality, and the Democratic Party can do better than the next Joe Lieberman.
No chance in hades I’ll ever vote for the money bagged corporate fascist Cuomo, at any level, thanks for the heads up!
The biggest problem now is that there is no political party dedicated to representing ordinary people. It was a Democrat who “reformed” welfare. It was a Democrat who deregulated the airlines. It was a Democrat who expanded drone usage inside the United States and authorized extra-judicial killings of Americans outside the United States. California’s senior senator, a Democrat, is one of the biggest supporters of the expanded security state.
Democrats have been opposed to unions, opposed to stimulus spending, opposed to building infrastructure. Democrats have voted for foreign wars, for corporate tax subsidies, and for austerity at home.
There are many Democrats who are worthy of support, but one clear misperception is that the Democratic Party is a progressive/liberal political party. While many may feel this is the only possible home for a liberal, it is not a welcoming one.