Andrew Cuomo is the UnDemocrat no more.
The bold leader who strode into Albany two years ago promising to change the political culture in the Capitol on Wednesday took the stage of the Empire State Plaza convention center to suddenly declare victory and retire.
The governor declared the political gridlock, dysfunction, corruption and cynicism that handicapped Albany to be gone. If only.
In his State of the State Address, Gov. Cuomo offered praise and thanks to the Legislature, public employees and others for partnering with him in restoring performance, trust and cooperation to state government — which, he told us, is performing better than it has in decades.
Never mind the uncertain Republican/Independent Democrat coalition now running the state Senate — let alone the lack of a teacher-evaluation agreement in New York City and the mystery of when, if ever, Cuomo’s team will approve natural-gas exploitation.
Anyone voicing such objections would’ve been drowned out by applause when the governor vowed to assume responsibility for maintaining New York as the progressive capital of America.
It takes just a single number to explain why Cuomo suddenly ditched the fiscally conservative UnDemocrat role for the mantle of progressive activist: 2016.
His chances to succeed President Obama improved markedly with Hillary Clinton’s second brush with blood clots, for the underlying condition can be greatly aggravated by frequent air-pressure changes — which makes the frequent flights of a presidential campaign a potential mortal hazard.
Clinton had the support of more New Yorkers for a 2016 run; her troubles have to encourage Cuomo’s ambitions.
But that means guarding his left flank — already under attack by progressives nationally for his embrace of the IDC/GOP coalition in the Senate. So he’s pivoting to show what a Democratic governor in a one-party state can accomplish.
To that end, Cuomo on Wednesday unveiled a wish list of progressive touchstones, from women’s equality to gun control to full-day pre-K and a longer school year.
The recent radio interview where he mentioned outlawing and confiscating semi-automatic military-style rifles was no accident. He wasn’t talking to gun owners, but to the large anti-gun wing in the Democratic Party.
Instead of fixing our broken and underfunded mental health safety net, Cuomo criminalizes ownership of the weapons abused by mentally ill killers.
This new unCuomo is letting Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Fox and environmentalist know-nothings dictate the state’s development policies. State scientists have determined that the gas-drilling technique known as hydrofracking can be done safely in the Southern Tier (after all, it’s done safely all across the country) — but unCuomo still delays a decision on ending New York’s ban.
He proposed Charge NY, a statewide network of charging stations for electric vehicles — ignoring the lack of progress on his previously announced plans to bring Canadian hydroelectric power downstate.
UnCuomo pledged “no new taxes” but asked for voter approval for three new casinos upstate. To fund his progressive wish list, does he really expect gambling addicts to flock upstate? Joined by tourists somehow bored of Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial and Harlem?
The UnDemocrat of 2011 wouldn’t have been so cynical as to declare “victory” long before anything much has changed. That Andrew Cuomo recognized that it takes a long-term commitment to fiscal discipline (and a strong guiding hand) to remake Albany’s political culture.
Today’s unCuomois more concerned with burnishing his progressive credentials than with fixing the fiscal cliff facing New York’s towns and municipalities — who still have no relief from the state’s many spending mandates, but whose revenues are increasingly crimped by Cuomo’s property-tax cap.
In the weeks ahead, unCuomo will release a budget plan to finance his progressive vision.
The madness that the UnDemocrat sought to end is on the verge of returning.
New Yorkers should rue his passing.