Andrew Cuomo is not following traditional procedures for his campaign. Instead, just last week, Cuomo went to a book-signing for his new memoir, and made a visit to the David Letterman show. He also made a public briefing about the state procedures to deal with the Ebola virus, and even flew to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, gaining approval from Hispanic voters. This counts as his third trip so far in merely a few months, after his other visit to Israel and Afghanistan.
While Cuomo went along with his own affairs, Astorino went to the South Bronx to rally together the Hispanic voters there and delivered a speech calling for term limits. He also went to Brooklyn, Rochester, Westchester County, and Long Island, and also participated in many radio interviews.
During those times, he kept calling Cuomo a coward for not meeting up with him in one-on-one televised debates.
But before, Cuomo did do some of his traditional duties to campaign as governor. He went on bus tours to promote women's issues, and visited black churches. He also held some NYC events with Hispanic leaders. However, it is true that Cuomo never really made an effort to face Astorino in a one-on-one battle of the words.
Political analysts admit that, while it does deprive the state of a true fight for governor through debates and such, they find nothing wrong with Cuomo's approach.
Honestly, I feel as if Cuomo is not putting much effort into this campaign because he definitely knows that he will win. He has more money, and a bigger lead in the race overall. But his lack of spirit in fighting shows. I feel as if Cuomo thinks that he can get away with work just because he has more power and money. I feel bad for Astorino who has to fight tooth and nail to overcome this adversity.
I agree that Cuomo might not be raking the race as seriously as he could be. However, his confidence is not without ample grounding: New York is an overwhelmingly Democratic state, and Cuomo not only has the experience of being New York's governor, but the popularity and the position as incumbent candidate. He may not be that arrogant to save a bit of money and work on social campaigning instead.
ReplyDeleteCuomo is definitely playing it cool in this race. It does seem that he is overconfident in his campaigning actions. It's as if Cuomo is already preparing for his next term before he has even been re-elected. I don't think it is a bad thing for Cuomo to look to the future because as Ashton pointed out New York is fairly liberal.
ReplyDeleteAstorino was unpopular from the start. He wants to repeal the Safe Act which is popular with most New York State voters and he is against abortion which alienates women voters. So, Cuomo automatically has most of New York voting for him because of the Safe Act and his fight for womens' rights. Cuomo is not lazy for doing as much as Astorino in terms of campaigning. He is only doing what he needs to do. He already has most of NY in his corner so why do unnecessary work?
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