By Camilo Smith
It’s not as if Andrew Cuomo needed the political rock star brilliance of his former boss, Bill Clinton, to lead him into next week’s gubernatorial election. Cuomo already enjoys a double-digit lead over his Tea Party-backed rival, Carl Paladino.
The packed auditorium at New York City Technical College in Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday roared with the cheers of almost 700 supporters for Clinton and the slew of Democratic speakers stumping for Cuomo during this a get out the vote rally.
“I care a lot about this race,” Clinton said, “Not only because Andrew Cuomo is my friend, and because he made such an important contribution to my administration for eight years, but because I used to be governor, and I know the shape, the nature of New York’s emergence from this financial crisis. How fast you come out, how well you come out, depends upon the governor of New York.”
“People hire the Democrats to fix things, “ Clinton added.
Former President Clinton, has been a long-time political ally of the Cuomo family. At one point he mentioned the elder Cuomo as a possible Supreme Court nomination. The younger Cuomo served in the Clinton administration as Housing and Urban Development secretary from 1997 to 2001.
Clinton remains one of the most popular figures in the New York Democratic party, and his wife Hillary served as senator for nearly eight years.
Cuomo’s Democratic base was out en masse to celebrate this next chapter in the Cuomo family’s political legacy, building on the two term New York governorship of his father, Mario Cuomo.
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, breaking into in Spanish to finish her speech, described Cuomo as a crusader against a corrupt Albany and a politician focused on building community. Velazquez called him, “The man who took care of the most vulnerable of us, the homeless.” She said he would restore the faith in state government.
The latest Quinnipiac University Poll shows Cuomo leading 55 percent to 35 percent over Paladino. Despite the healthy lead, “energized” was still the catchphrase of the moment.
The rally participants consisted of students, dozens of politicians, Clinton fans and overall Democratic supporters. Those among them were Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, who said he supports Cuomo because “he knows how to work the levers of government.” He added that Cuomo hails from Queens, “our sister borough. “We’re the big brother to Queens,” he said.
Clinton’s speech touched on several cornerstones of Cuomo’s resume, such as public, private partnerships like Cuomo’s program to help the homeless. He also highlighted his work as the state’s attorney general, going after companies involved in the financial debacle.
“We have a guy who gives you 110 million back, that’s a pretty good deal,” said Clinton.
Cuomo referred to his opponents as “they” throughout. He called their campaign positions “wedges” that his opponents were using to divide voters. “They were trying to separate us, gay from straight, he said. “They were trying to separate us, New Yorker’s from new immigrants. They were trying to separate us, upstate from downstate. “
Outside the rally, as campaign helpers were cleaning up inside, Keon Treadwell, 24, who came to Brooklyn after his classes finished at Borough of Manhattan Community College, said he came out to support Cuomo, but was in awe of Bill Clinton. “I never heard him in real life,” said Treadwell.” He said he was supporting Cuomo because of his support for gay marriage, his support of healthcare reform, and his background in helping to regulate Wall Street.
New York shouldn’t depart from its Democratic history, he said. “In New Jersey, they have Christie,” he said, referring to the Republican governor, “and we don’t want New York to be like that.”
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