Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared to give Gov. Andrew Cuomo a lesson in Left-Wing Politics 101 on Thursday.
School was in session on Staten Island as the progressive mayor was spotted wagging his finger at the centrist governor, who needs all the help he can get to win over the liberal Working Families Party.
De Blasio has called for the WFP to back Cuomo, despite the governor’s opposition to some of the mayor’s favorite liberal projects, such as crushing charter schools and hiking taxes to pay for preschool.
Support from the WFP would be a huge boost to Cuomo’s run for re-election this fall, as a recent poll showed a significant number of left-leaning voters would abandon the governor for another candidate on the third party’s line.
During a bill-signing event in Heritage Park, Hizzoner sang Cuomo’s praises.
“We don’t have to agree on everything to still believe that we’re doing a lot of great work together. And in a clear majority of cases, we are on the same page,” said de Blasio, who looked on as Cuomo signed a bill giving tax breaks to Hurricane Sandy-affected homeowners.
When the ceremony ended, the two power pols walked along the park’s periphery for several minutes and talked some more, out of earshot of reporters.
The governor has been scrambling for the WFP endorsement so he can be on its ballot line along with the Democratic Party line.
He is sitting on a $33 million war chest that might ensure a victory over GOP challenger Rob Astorino.
But if a candidate other than the governor winds up on the WFP line, he or she could sap liberal votes and cut his margin of victory in half, making it less likely Cuomo could claim an electoral mandate when he resumes office.
To appeal to the WFP, Cuomo has said he might campaign against state Senate Republicans if they don’t pass campaign-finance reforms this year, a high priority for the WFP.
WFP officials have already said they are less than thrilled with Cuomo.
“While Governor Cuomo deserves credit for winning marriage equality and passing gun reform, many New Yorkers are frustrated with his tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations and dramatic cuts to education,” WFP organizing director Mike Boland wrote to supporters on Thursday.
But some of the powerful unions that bankroll the WFP are already siding with the governor.