Yesterday afternoon, after releasing a campaign video stating as much, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo finally announced that he is running for Governor of NY State this November. To strains of Bon Jovi's "Work For The Working Man," Cuomo said to the crowd gathered at the Tweed Courthouse in downtown Manhattan, "New York was not always like this. This is not New York at its best. I'm old enough to remember when it was better than this," reminding people of the dysfunction in Albany and issues on Wall Street.
Cuomo also acknowledged this failed 2002 attempt for the seat, "Sure it’s hard to come back. I saw it in my own life. A few years ago, I ran for governor and I lost. And I then went through a very difficult time in my personal life. It was a public humiliation," referring to his much-gossiped about split from Kerry Kennedy.
He added, "People said it was over for me; they said my public service career was finished — there was no way I could come back. Some days even I thought they were right... With the compassion and empathy of New Yorkers, you gave me a second chance." Cuomo also had his daughters by Kennedy as well as girlfriend, Sandra Lee, of the "Semi-Homemade" empire, at his side. Lee told the Daily News, "This is his year... He's the guy you want on the front line for you. If I wasn't with him, I'd still vote for him."
However, there are no question-and-answer session, and his campaign website is, at present, short on speciic details of his agenda, though he did say he wouldn't support that Lieutenant Richard Ravitch's borrowing plan for the state's terrible finances. Now there's speculation about who he will pick as his running mate, and apparently he's looking outside of the usual political spheres, with a source saying, "It's all about whether this person has competence and integrity, and whether he or she is ready to be governor if something should happen." And given the recent track record, that could totally happen!
