Andrew Cuomo

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley: The Man To Watch For 2016

Ronald 2 Comments

Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley, who has been successful as Mayor of Baltimore and Governor, is actively campaigning for Barack Obama, and is one of his best surrogates.

Already having bested Virginia Republican Governor Bob McDonnell in a debate a few months ago, O’Malley was on Meet The Press this morning, and debating former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, no easy challenge as a debater.

O’Malley again performed very well, and came across as cool, calm, and collected in his defense of President Obama, and critical in a respectful way of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee.

Realize that IF Romney were to be elected this year, O’Malley could very well be his opponent in 2016!

But even if Obama is re-elected, it is clear that O’Malley plans to run for President in 2016, and has been doing the legwork required at this distant point from 2016.

O’Malley, however, when asked about running in 2016, said he was not thinking that far ahead, even when David Gregory asked if he was waiting to see if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vice President Joe Biden would end up declaring for the nomination.

That is a smart tack to take at this early point, but the reality is that the battle for 2016 in the Democratic Party could be between the “Old Timers”, Clinton and Biden, and the “Newcomers”, the younger generation, including O’Malley and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Oh No! Speculation About 2016 Democratic Presidential Nomination Already? And Involving New York?

Ronald 2 Comments

It is hard to believe, but Politico has published an article speculating about two possible candidates for the Democratic nomination for President in 2016 almost seven months before we settle who will sit in the Oval Office on January 20, 2013!

And get this: the two political figures mentioned are both New Yorkers, a state thought by many to have no role in the future of Presidential races, but anyone thinking that would be wrong!

The two are Secretary of State and former Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of the 42nd President, Bill Clinton, and Governor Andrew Cuomo, son of former Governor Mario Cuomo, himself the subject of much speculation for President in the 1990s, but never running.

Speculation is rampant, although Hillary denies it, that she might be tapped for Vice President in place of Joe Biden, or that she will just retire for two years, write a book, relax, and then come back and run for President, but with Andrew Cuomo not allowing that to stand in the way of his own ambitions.

And then, outside of the Politico article, there is speculation that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York will also wish to move ahead and seek the Presidency in 2016!

Imagine New York being a center of Presidential speculation, and we don’t even know if the President in office will be leaving in 2017 (Barack Obama), or be finishing his first term in office (Mitt Romney)!

Republican Run State Governments, Their Social Agenda, And The Effect On 2012 Elections

Ronald Leave a comment

Many states witnessed Republican takeover or consolidation in the Midterm Elections of 2010, but now, 18 months later, the record of those states run by Republicans could come back to haunt them and lead to Democratic victories across America.

Of course, many states have Republican Governors whose voters have “buyers remorse” over, including Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who faces a recall vote on June 5. But also, there is a lot of discontent with other “Bully” Governors, including Rick Snyder of Michigan, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Scott of Florida, Paul LePage of Maine, Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, and in some polls, Chris Christie of New Jersey. Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut are among the Democratic Governors looking great in the polls.

The Republican controlled state legislatures proceeded to pass laws on social issues, including gay rights, abortion, gun rights, laws against teaching of evolution, and laws allowing invasion of privacy of women’s bodies.

States including Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Maine have passed all kinds of laws that will cause a revulsion among Independents, women, Hispanics and Latinos, and young voters

Even the American Legislative Exchange Council, a business backed group which promotes conservative laws at the state level, has recognized how there could be a reaction against the right wing extremism in many states, and is now focusing on economic issues.

It will be interesting to see how this all works out in November, regarding state legislatures.

Speculation On 2016 Presidential Election Beginning: Early Speculation For Hillary Clinton And Jeb Bush!

Ronald Leave a comment

Despite the ups and downs of a Presidential election campaign, most observers sense that Barack Obama is likely to win a second term in the White House.

If that is assumed to be likely, it allows for speculation as to what might happen in 2016, and early thoughts are with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Both have been vetted in most aspects of their lives and careers, although certainly other information will arise as time goes by, but both are very famous and experienced, and of course, have the “sex appeal” of being the wife of a former President and the son and brother of two former Presidents, almost like having two royal families.

Hillary Clinton will be 69 years old in 2016, and will have come off two years of retirement, if her plans to leave the State Department at the beginning of the next term comes about. She will have had the eight years in the White House under her husband, Bill Clinton, as an activist First Lady, one of the standouts in that unelected office. She will also have had eight active years in the US Senate, a vigorous experience as a Presidential candidate in 2008, and four stupendous years as Secretary of State, embellishing her foreign policy credentials. With the growing emphasis on women’s rights, and her speech at the Women’s World Summit last weekend, this would be the time to start planning for another Presidential campaign, and no one would ever question her energy, her intelligence, and her breadth of knowledge and expertise. This is no Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann for certain!

At the same time, Jeb Bush would be 63 years old, with eight years as Florida Governor, the fourth largest state in America, and a record of handling hurricane crises on a very professional level, and demonstrating intelligence, depth, and knowledge on a Presidential scale, without all of the faults and shortcomings of the present GOP Presidential field.

Bush could have entered the race this year, but chose not to, with the major reason being thought to be his secret belief that it would be better to run when the Presidency was open, rather than running against an incumbent President. Also, he is well aware that the name BUSH is still unpopular after the eight years of his brother George W. Bush in the White House.

But Bush comes across as serious and a front runner for 2016, as it would be eight years after his brother’s terms of office and 24 years after his father’s one term of office. Of course, it is highly unlikely that his parents would be here to see their second son become President, an unbelievable distinction were it to happen, but one never knows what might happen, as with modern health treatments available to former Presidents, the best there are, George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush would be 93 and 92 in 2016, and it certainly is possible they could both still be with us.

Imagine a race between Clinton and Bush, bringing back memories of a full generation, 20 years of Bush-Clinton-Bush, and possibly resulting in either a sequence of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Clinton OR Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Bush! What confusion for students studying history in the future with either of the above chronological successions of the Presidents!

At the same time, there would be the desire of a younger and newer generation to challenge both Clinton and Bush, including Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York at the minimum for the Democrats; and Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal at the minimum for the Republicans.

Needless to say, one can be assured there would be somewhere between ten and a dozen candidates seeking the Presidency on both sides of the political equation!

But experience and family connection could be the winning combination!

A Forecast Of The Future? Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley Vs. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell

Ronald Leave a comment

Yesterday, the political website POLITICO sponsored a debate between Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell over the controversial social issues that have come to the forefront in the past few weeks.

Martin O’Malley came to the strong defense of President Barack Obama, and hailed the successes of the administration, while being critical of the Republicans, led by Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell, who became embroiled in a controversy over an invasive vaginal ultra sound bill to undermine abortions by women.

O’Malley at the same time defended the decision in Maryland to make that state the eighth state to legalize gay marriages.

Bob McDonnell was on the defensive, as he explained his change of heart on the invasive ultra sound bill, after much outrage by women and the news media and others who believe in the right of privacy and women’s rights.

As one watched this debate, one could imagine the scenario of a possible 2016 Presidential debate between the two men, governors of neighboring states, with totally opposite views, and both strong defenders of their viewpoints.

Martin O’Malley is already seen as a top tier Presidential candidate for 2016 in the Democratic Party, and Bob McDonnell has obvious ambitions on the Republican side, and has made it clear that he is interested in a Vice Presidential slot with Mitt Romney, if Romney were to choose him. That is the obvious, although denied, reason for his backing off on the invasive ultra sound bill that he seemed ready to sign.

O’Malley has showed evidence that he would be a hard, aggressive campaigner if he ran for President, as he has become one of the major defenders of President Obama’s record, and a critic of the governors of not only Virginia, but also Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida, all hard line conservatives, who he accuses correctly of presiding over very poor employment growth, while Obama, by intervening in Michigan and other Midwestern states, has promoted a revival of the auto industry and the general economy, along with the general progress in decline of the unemployment rate.

Not only is Martin O’Malley demonstrating that a Catholic can have an open mind on issues such as abortion and gay marriage and labor rights, but also Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, is showing the same on these issues, and both are certainly to be considered front runners for the Presidential nomination in 2016.

Not all Catholic politicians allow their faith to dominate their politics, although Rick Santorum, particularly, and convert Newt Gingrich, both seem to feel that their religious views should be dictated to the population at large, even though we were founded as a nation on the concept of separation of church and state, which John F. Kennedy so clearly enunciated as the first Catholic President of the United States!

A Path Breaking Week For Gay Rights In America!

Ronald Leave a comment

This week in July 2011 will be remembered as the week of path breaking events for gay rights in America!

After a long period of patience, major progress is being made in the following ways:

1. On Sunday, the first gay marriages will be performed in New York City and around the state of New York, a month after the state legislature enacted this basic human rights issue.

2. The Department of Justice under President Obama is now advocating the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, and hearings have been held to move toward repeal, although it is likely that will lead to resistance by Republicans in the House of Representatives.

3. The Defense Department is today certifying that they back the formal end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, and that they see no problem of gays being openly accepted in the military, and that it will not interfere with the internal cohesion and unity of the armed forces.

4. Additionally, in a very touching manner, comedian Stephen Colbert of the Comedy Channel issued a video in which he talked about children being bullied and called “Queer” in middle school, and how when he was so bullied, although not being gay, a friend reacted in a way that disarmed bullies harrassing his friend. Colbert said, in serious terms, words cannot hurt you if you decide to think of yourself as a person who has value and significance and purpose, and that things will get better if one understands that words should not be allowed to interfere with one’s self esteem, so hang in there, and one’s life will become better with patience. This is a beautiful message that needs to be spread all over America, to prevent bullying from leading to young men and women committing suicide, and was the best possible action Stephen Colbert could possibly have taken to deal with the epidemic of bullying and resultant suicide occurring in America!

So the long road to human rights advancement in a new area of concern has been successful, and the New York legislature, Governor Andrew Cuomo, President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, and comedian Stephen Colbert must be acknowledged and applauded for their courageous efforts in this regard!

Early Speculation On 2016 Presidential Nomination Contest For Democrats!

Ronald Leave a comment

With the decision of the New York State legislature, with strong intervention by Governor Andrew Cuomo , to put gay marriage into law in the third largest state, the speculation has begun on who might be front runners in the 2016 Presidential Election on the Democratic side, and Cuomo is at the top of the list!

Along with Cuomo, the son of former NY Governor Mario Cuomo, others speculated about this early include:

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton, and then was elected to the seat.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who won an easy re-election in his state.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner, former Governor, who considered running for President in 2008 but backed out of the race.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has made a great impression on many in the Democratic Party.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who faces a tough re-election challenge in the “Show Me” state in 2012, but is seen as a future leader of the Democratic Party.

Political junkies never find it too early to think more than an election ahead, so the speculation is rampant and will grow as the months and years go by!

The Outrage Of Rick Scott, John Kasich, And Scott Walker: Rejection of High Speed Rail Train Funds For Future Infrastructure Economic Growth! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

It is shocking news that Florida Governor Rick Scott has joined Ohio Governor John Kasich and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in the rejection of billions of dollars of high speed rail train funds for future Infrastructure economic growth! 🙁

This all comes after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has rejected the building of new interstate roads between the high traffic states of New Jersey and New York.

Building and expanding transportation infrastructure is crucial for future economic growth and prosperity and the continued rapid growth of our population, and many European countries and Japan and South Korea are way ahead of us in that regard.

And yet these four Republican Governors, already infamous for attempting to crack down on public service employees and destroy labor rights, including collective bargaining, are so short sighted that they will reject federal funding, which will simply go elsewhere.

The Democratic Governors of New York and California has open arms extended to accept money rejected by these other states. Andrew Cuomo and Jerry Brown are not about to reject the chance for further long range economic growth, and it is essential for the future that the nation rely more on trains to cut down automobile traffic and save energy.

Florida could have had $2.4 billion to develop high speed train traffic between Orlando and Tampa, the high traffic corridor of I-4, and even many Republicans in the state, along with Democrats, including Senator Bill Nelson, are going to work to get the project done by working around the state government.

Scott took the lead of his Tea Party supporters, and is rejecting the future. In six weeks in office, Rick Scott has come across as a total “train wreck”, no pun intended, and yet there is no state mechanism to push for his recall, as only 18 states allow recall, and Florida is not one of them! 🙁

It is clear that Scott is going to be a very controversial and divisive Governor, and the question is how much his own party in the Florida legislature will fight him before he destroys the future of the Sunshine State! 🙁

A Cuomo Governorship In New York State Again!

Ronald Leave a comment

New York State is experiencing a return of the Cuomo family name to the executive mansion in Albany, with the smashing victory of Andrew, son of Mario, over Republican and Tea Party favorite Carl Paladino on Tuesday.

Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York for three terms from 1983-1995 and was often thought of as a possible Supreme Court Justice and Presidential possibility.

Andrew Cuomo was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001, and was Attorney General of New York since 2007, and won 62 percent of the vote for Governor!

Andrew Cuomo resembles his father in appearance and speech pattern and voice, and many political observers consider that he has the opportunity, if he can resolve the massive problems of New York over the next four or more years, to be a serious candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, when he would be only 58 years old!

His outstanding performance on Election Day certainly puts Andrew Cuomo on a short list of potential “new faces” that could have an impact on the future of the Democratic Party after the administration of Barack Obama!

In Difficult Electoral Climate For Democrats, Some Have No Problem!

Ronald Leave a comment

While the Democrats face possible election losses in two weeks, there are eight Democrats who are facing no problem at all when it comes to election or re-election!

In Senate races, the following Democrats have no serious challenges:

Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Chuck Schumer of New York
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Patrick Leahy of Vermont

Two gubernatorial races also seem guaranteed for the Democrats:

Andrew Cuomo of New York
John Hickenlooper of Colorado

These eight Democrats are a very privileged group, but otherwise Democrats are running for election or re-election, knowing clearly that the trend seems to be against them, with losses expected, but the extent of the losses hard to predict as the races reach their final two weeks of what has become a marathon!