Governor Andrew Cuomo has managed to stay out of New York City’s mayoral race so far, but he felt compelled to respond to Mayor Bloomberg’s comments to New York’s Chris Smith about Bill de Blasio’s “class-warfare and racist” campaign. “I don’t know what was actually said or what the context was, but the comments that were reported clearly are out of line and have no place in our political discourse,” said Cuomo on Sunday. He added that New York likes to make “a statement to the country that we are the capital of diversity and we celebrate diversity,” so “any words contrary to that really goes against the essence of what New York is all about, that we can all come together and forge one.”
Just in case anyone thought that was an endorsement, he later employed the Clinton strategy, saying he’s too close to all the mayoral candidates to pick just one. “He sat in the front row of Christine Quinn’s wedding after championing marriage equality together, appointed Bill Thompson chair of Battery Park City Authority, and appointed Bill DeBlasio regional head at HUD,” said a spokeswoman. “As he has said, they are all great candidates.”
Supposedly, he’s refusing to weigh in on the comptroller’s race for the opposite reason. “The governor didn’t feel his endorsement would turn the tide for Stringer and felt that the danger in further angering Spitzer wasn’t worth the risk,” a Cuomo administration source tells the Post. Once again, those shadowy forces working against Spitzer seem less powerful than initially reported.
