Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO NIGHTLY: Andrew Cuomo, a man searching for a plan

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

POLITICO NIGHTLY: Andrew Cuomo, a man searching for a plan

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo | Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images

NOW WHAT? First, he was rumored to be considering a run for his old attorney general seat, a way to enact revenge on his chief foe, Attorney General Tish James.

Then the speculation shifted: He might run in a Democratic primary for governor, entering a three-candidate field to blow up the race and hope to come out victorious, returning to Albany to redeem his family name after scandal felled his time in office.

He chose not to do either. The petitioning process came and went earlier this month and nary a petition submitted by the once dominant figure in New York government.

So now what for Andrew Cuomo?

After first taking office in 2011, Cuomo appears committed to trying to stay in the spotlight — with his dwindling stockpile of campaign cash, name recognition and bully pulpit — but probably not an immediate run for office.

In recent months, Cuomo has run TV ads with his $16 million left in campaign cash and gave two speeches at Black churches in a bid to rebuild his brand after he resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations. The allegations were deemed credible in a report by James, and several other scandals — including undercounting Covid deaths in nursing homes and a $5 million book deal that used state resources — also fueled his demise.

He continues to garner attention in New York and the nation, though not close to as much as when his daily briefings became national news and were viewed as a counter to President Donald Trump’s tepid response.

The three-term Democratic governor said he was the victim of today’s cancel culture. He was also probably referring to his younger brother, Chris, who was fired by CNN as its top-rated host for huddling with Andrew’s aides to try to discredit his brother’s accusers.

“It is a social death penalty. Anyone can get canceled at any time. And it happens today with frequency,” he said in a March 17 speech in the Bronx.

Cuomo, the pugilist politician from blue-collar Queens and son of late three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo, probably wanted nothing more than to crush his enemies and return to his soft leather seat in the ornate governor’s office in Albany.

But that doesn’t appear to be reality. He doesn’t run for office when it’s clear he’s not the odds-on favorite after his first run for governor in 2002 flamed out in disaster: He quit just days before the primary.

This time, polls show it to be an extraordinarily uphill battle to beat his successor and former lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, in a primary.

A Siena College poll last month showed 67 percent of registered voters did not want him to run for governor, and 56 percent believed that he sexually harassed women. A Siena poll in February found 80 percent of voters said he made the right decision to resign.

Not numbers that instill hope of a successful comeback after he quit rather than face a likely impeachment by the state Legislature.

“I don’t think New York should have ever taken him seriously,” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Wiliams, a Democratic candidate for governor. “If the Legislature had impeached, we wouldn’t be talking about him right now. But there is a danger if he ran in the general, so we’ve got to take that seriously.”

Cuomo’s last hope this year to enter the race for governor? A quixotic run as an independent — a move that even technically would be hard to pull off with the number of petition signatures required by the end of May. And even if he does run, he would likely just split the vote among Democrats and could hand the election to Republicans — who haven’t won a statewide race in New York since 2002.

“Andrew Cuomo does not like to lose elections, and Andrew Cuomo, I don’t believe, would want to be seen as a spoiler helping to elect a Republican,” said Siena College poll spokesperson Steve Greenberg, who is also a veteran political consultant. “That doesn’t seem like credentials Andrew Cuomo would want as part of his legacy.”

So for now, he appears poised to take shots at the state of affairs in New York politics, play arm-chair quarterback … and have the occasional dinner with New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

On Monday, Cuomo chided Hochul in an op-ed in the New York Daily News — not by name — over the resignation of her Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin last week after he was charged in a bribery scandal. He failed to mention the list of those in his inner circle who went to prison in corruption scandals during his 11 years in office.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. “Well that was a stressful 15 minutes.” Yes it was, Andrew Desiderio, our colleague who was tweeting after this evening’s alert to evacuate the Capitol due to what was then deemed by the U.S. Capitol Police “an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol Complex.” Thankfully, shortly after, USCP gave the all clear, and the incident seems to have been triggered by a parachute display for Military Appreciation Day at the Nationals-Diamondbacks baseball game. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at jspector@politico.com, or on Twitter at @JoeSpectorNY.

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WHAT'D I MISS?

— CDC asks DOJ to appeal travel mask mandate ruling: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the Department of Justice today to appeal a federal judge’s injunction against its travel mask mandate in order “to protect CDC’s public health authority.” “It is CDC’s continuing assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health,” the CDC said in a statement.

— U.S. unveils new sanctions as Russia continues Donbas assault: The Biden administration today leveled new sanctions against a Russian commercial bank, a Russian oligarch and a group of companies operating in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry . The actions, announced by the Treasury Department, come on the second day of Russia’s new offensive in the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have launched their anticipated assault after withdrawing from the northern part of the country.

— Yellen, others walk out of G-20 meeting when Russian minister speaks: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other global policymakers walked out of a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Washington today when Russia’s finance minister began speaking, according to a person familiar with the matter. Yellen left the session along with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and multiple other finance ministers and central bank governors once Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister who joined the meeting virtually, began to address the gathering, the person said. Some economic policymakers from other countries who joined virtually turned off their cameras when Siluanov began to speak, the person added.

— Biden admin weighs reopening U.S. Embassy in Kyiv: The Biden administration is resisting growing calls from U.S. lawmakers, former diplomats and others to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv , a move advocates say would send a signal of Western strength and unity to Russia as its war on Ukraine nears the two-month mark. Multiple U.S. diplomats privately say they want an American return to the Ukrainian capital, an area from which Russian forces have withdrawn. More than a dozen European countries, including Slovenia, Italy and Spain, as well as the European Union, already have reopened their Kyiv missions or intend to do so.

— Bernie Sanders hasn’t ‘ruled out’ running for president if Biden doesn’t seek reelection: Sen. Bernie Sanders has not “ruled out” a run for the White House in 2024 if President Joe Biden declines to seek another four years , according to a campaign memo obtained by POLITICO. The memo was circulated by Faiz Shakir, a top Sanders political adviser and his campaign manager in 2020. First reported by The Washington Post, the memo was distributed to allies, advising them how to “embrace the attacks” regarding Sanders’ support for their candidates in 2022.

— Bidens will attend White House Correspondents’ Dinner this month: The Bidens’ attendance at the April 30 event would make them the first “first couple” to take part in the festivities since Barack and Michelle Obama attended in 2016. Donald and Melania Trump boycotted and occasionally counter-programmed the black-tie affair throughout their term in the White House.

— DNC hauled in $16.8M in March: The Democratic National Committee racked up another record-breaking fundraising quarter to kick off 2022, bringing in $16.8 million in March and more than $42 million over the past three months even as the party stares down a brutal midterm environment. Just last month, the DNC and its joint fundraising arm collected the party’s highest March total ever in a midterm year, according to a DNC spokesperson. The numbers, obtained by POLITICO ahead of the monthly filing deadline, are a bright spot for a party that’s defending razor-thin margins in the House and Senate this fall.

ASK THE AUDIENCE

Nightly asks you: As Americans adjust to the end of the federal transportation mask mandate, we want to hear about your experiences. Have you traveled on a plane, train or bus this week, and if so, tell us about the masking environment? Did you feel comfortable traveling? Send us your responses via our form, and we’ll include select answers in our Friday edition.

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NIGHTLY NUMBER

59 percent

The percentage of voters who supported the CDC’s decision to extend the federal mask mandate for transportation through May 3, according to a new Morning Consult/POLITICO survey taken April 15-17.

PARTING WORDS

A cannabis plant that is close to harvest grows in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Cannabis facility in Richmond, Va. | Steve Helber/AP Photo

FROM BOOM TO BUST — The nation’s marijuana industry has boomed during the pandemic. So far, 2022 is looking like a bust, Paul Demko writes.

Weed sales hit $27 billion last year, nearly doubling figures from just two years earlier — and revenues are projected to double again over the next six years. Even pot supporters in Congress seemed well-positioned to dismantle decades-old restrictions.

But the still-green industry is mired in a financial funk: Stock prices have plummeted. Capital raises have crashed. And marijuana prices have slumped.

“There’s a lot of assets just not worth anything, so they’re just going to go away,” said Morgan Paxhia, co-founder of pioneering cannabis investment firm Poseidon Asset Management. “We’re seeing defaults picking up; we’re seeing businesses shuttering.”

While a new glut of semi-legal weed has helped sink prices, industry executives and investors say the lack of progress on federal marijuana legislation is the single biggest factor driving the sector’s economic downturn — and it’s unclear when their odds will improve. After Democrats won total control of the federal government in 2021, optimism swept the industry that Congress and the Biden administration would loosen restrictions on the drug and make it easier to run a profitable business.