All the polls show Gov. Cuomo enjoying a huge lead over his Republican challenger, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. So why is the governor’s campaign going with an ad that’s sleazy even by the low standards of New York?
Earlier this week, The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker reported the Cuomo campaign has begun airing a commercial that opens with this line: “The Rob Astorino story: racketeering, conspiracy, fraud.”
It goes on to accuse him of “conspiring with a family and accomplices to rig his election through election fraud.”
Sounds awful. So what’s this “racketeering” all about? Turns out it’s based on a civil lawsuit that’s been filed against Astorino.
What the Cuomo ad leaves out, however, is that this suit was filed by Astorino’s longtime political foe, the head of the Westchester branch of the Independence Party. Which y has endorsed Cuomo.
Lawsuits like these are a staple of New York’s politics. They’re filed for maximum campaign publicity and invariably get dismissed once the election is over.
Now, we’re not ones to complain about negative ads. They often sharpen issues for voters and force pols to respond. But this commercial does none of that.
To the contrary, it avoids drawing contrasts between the men on the many real and substantive differences that divide them: on tax rates, on fracking, or on the generally sluggish state of the New York economy.
Then again, it may be that Gov. Cuomo has calculated the real issues don’t work to his advantage — and has his campaign staff working overtime to change the subject.