(Shannon DeCelle)
Could we see a Secretary of State William Jefferson Clinton — but not in a Hillary Rodham Clinton administration?
That was the wild scenario making the rounds at the state Capitol last week in the wake of the former president’s strong praise of Gov. Cuomo at a Waldorf-Astoria dinner that commemorated the Cuomo-founded HELP program for the homeless and honored Clinton and the governor’s parents, ex-Gov. Mario and Matilda Cuomo.
Clinton’s big news at the event was his confirmation that he had, as had been widely speculated, offered Mario Cuomo a seat on the US Supreme Court in 1993 — only to have the offer rejected.
But the bigger news, in the view of several state Democrats, was his unusually strong praise of the current governor as a political leader whose successful and bipartisan approach to getting things done in Albany was one “that would work best for America.’’
Cuomo — who is known to be eyeing a possible presidential run in 2016 — has long been close with Clinton and is widely seen as a Clinton political protégé. He served as the former president’s housing secretary from 1997 to the end of his term.
“It looks like Bill may be hedging his bets by getting ready to go with Andrew if Hillary is, indeed, serious about not running herself,’’ said a Democratic insider, referring to speculation that current Secretary of State Clinton will run for president in 2016.
“I think everyone who knows Bill Clinton knows he’d love to be secretary of state because he’s so smart and because he knows so much about the world,’’ the insider continued.
Meanwhile, the Clinton/Cuomo speculation was being fueled by the unexpected appearance at the Capitol late last week of one-time top Clinton White House operative Chris Lehane, former Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign spokesman in 2000, and Peter Ragone, one-time communications director to California Gov. Gray Davis and spokesman for Andrew Cuomo’s ill-fated 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
Lehane and Ragone, California-based political/business consultants, met with Cuomo’s director of state operations and important political adviser, Howard Glaser, during the visit. All three worked together in Washington during part of Cuomo’s tenure in DC.
Ragone wouldn’t say what was discussed with Glaser, but he said the talks had nothing to do with either his or Lehane’s clients.
Clinton, 65, misses being at the center of Washington power. While he’s been seen as encouraging his wife to at least consider running for president in four years, Secretary Clinton has repeatedly said she’s done with electoral politics.
Bill Clinton also appeared to undermine President Obama’s re-election efforts with comments last week that indicated his unhappiness with Obama’s economic policies.
Cuomo, like Clinton but unlike Obama, is viewed as a pro-business moderate Democrat willing to compromise with Republicans in the interest of achieving results.
Cuomo, despite having a politically divided Legislature, has managed to win passage of an on-time state budget two straight years, after decades of dysfunction that often led to long budget delays. Obama, by contrast, has been unable to win passage of a complete federal budget because of partisan battling between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the GOP-controlled House.
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Political insiders including top Cuomo aides will be keeping a sharp eye on today’s Siena College poll to see if the governor’s popularity has suffered because of revelations involving the Committee to Save NY, a business-oriented advocacy group that has received and spent millions of dollars backing the governor’s economic agenda.
The New York Times revealed last week that pro-casino operators of the state’s racinos contributed $2 million to CSNY late last year, at the time Cuomo began a major push for a constitutional amendment to legalize full-blown casino operations.
However, there’s no evidence that the funds influenced Cuomo’s actions because he had endorsed casino gambling during his 2010 election campaign. In addition, racino operators are furious that Cuomo maintains they shouldn’t be automatically entitled to run casinos should the amendment be approved.
Siena began polling last week just before the story appeared, but more than half of those contacted were reached after the report was in print.