'If I'm Gov. Cuomo, I Want To See Obama Defeated Rather Than Re-elected in 2012'

Let's face it. How many Democrats really want to see Barack Obama lead us further down the path to financial ruin? Give him four more years and the damage to the country, not to mention his own party, may likely be irreversible. So if you're Andrew Cuomo or any other Democrat with future aspirations, do you get all-out to help Obama win a second term.

Some don't think so.

Will Gov. Cuomo be backing the Republican candidate for president next year?

Certainly not openly. But privately, that could be another matter.

Two nationally prominent Republicans, in an assessment that's begun being whispered in some Democratic circles, contend it's in Cuomo's political interest for President Obama to be defeated next year.

"If I'm Gov. Cuomo, I want to see Obama defeated rather than re-elected in 2012," said GOP pollster/strategist John McLaughlin, whose New York-based company boasts a top-flight client list that includes House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

"The question is, 'Would Cuomo rather run in 2016 against a first-term Republican or in the aftermath of a second term of Obama, the most left-wing president we may have ever seen, with economic policies that harm the private sector with massive tax increases and a homeland-security path that includes hostility to Israel?' "

McLaughlin continued, "Cuomo has a different, far more moderate, model where he has cut spending, didn't raise taxes, capped property taxes and hasn't engaged in the class-warfare, anti-Wall Street rhetoric that the president has used.

Cuomo has essentially been a clone of Chris Christie, minus the viral videos and hostility from the media. He's played it smart and become a legitimate contender down the road, something I never thought I'd say. Actually, I'd take him over Obama right now given the choice.

"A second term for Obama with the same policies he has now would probably be a political catastrophe for the nation and the Democrats. If there's four more years of Obama, you don't want to be Cuomo running for president as the leader of the Democratic Party."

Cuomo may already be holding back full-fledged support for Obama. When pressed on where he stood on the president's demand for higher taxes on the wealthy last week, the governor responded with a tepid, "I tend to agree with the president's position."

Former US Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, a lobbyist with strong ties to the Washington political establishment, said, "If President Obama loses next year, Cuomo immediately comes to the fore.

"Cuomo will be the power in the Democratic Party because he has done it in a great state, he stabilized the economic situation, took on some of the Democratic sacred cows and got results," said the Republican D'Amato, who backed Cuomo last year over hapless Republican Carl Paladino.

"Generally, after a president serves two terms, the public wants a change. There was an exception with Ronald Reagan, who handed off the job to his vice president. But I think there will be an incredible weariness with Obama and the Democrats if he serves another four-year term."

Some key New York Democrats have privately reached the same conclusion.

"If the governor wants to run for president in 2016, and I think he does, it would be much better for him to have a Republican in the White House for the next four years," said a prominent New York Democrat.

Cuomo may not be the only Democrat hoping Obama goes away. In all likelihood the Democrats will be losing the Senate in 2012, the GOP will retain the House and he'll be an immediate four-year lame duck. He won't be able to govern and judging by his childish behavior of late, his belligerence will only increase. I surmise plenty of Democrats would breathe a sigh of relief if he announced tomorrow he won't be running next year. The problem is his massive ego would never allow that. Besides, he's got a lot more parties, vacations and golf to squeeze in before he returns to private life.

Obama to Dump Biden for Andrew Cuomo

So says Fred Dicker in the NY Post today. It's not as if Obama's in any danger of losing the New York electoral votes, although if Democrats are thinking ahead, it would give them a ready-made candidate for 2016. Upon hearing the rumor, Joe Biden said aloud "Wait, I'm the Vice President?"

A Prominent Republican is joining a prominent Democrat in predicting that Gov. Cuomo will become President Obama's running mate for vice president next year.

Former New York GOP boss William Powers, credited with playing a key role in electing Rudy Giuliani mayor and George Pataki governor, was effusive in his praise of Cuomo's successes in the just-ended legislative session, and in his prediction of the freshman governor's political future.

"Andrew had a fabulous session. It was fabulous. A property-tax cap, ethics reform and, for Democrats, gay marriage," said Powers.

"I don't think there's any doubt Obama is going to pick him as his running mate. The president is in trouble and [Vice President Joseph] Biden doesn't bring anything to his ticket.

"The president will call him up later this year and say, 'Andrew, you have to do this for the good of the country.' What's Andrew going to say, 'No?' "

Cuomo, who saw a flurry of predictions last week in the wake of the gay-marriage victory that he'll run for president in 2016, has repeatedly refused to discuss the possibility of higher office.

He wouldn't comment either on Powers' prediction, but a source familiar with his thinking half-jokingly said this when asked what action Cuomo would take if Obama called to offer him the nation's No. 2 position: "He won't answer."

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown earlier this year also predicted that Obama would pick Cuomo to replace Biden, who he claimed would be named by the president to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"He's a big name, a big-state governor, and a Democrat who is taking on the issue of public-employee salaries and pensions. Plus, he looks good," Brown said of Cuomo.

It's funny how a Democrat can take on public-employee salaries and pensions and there's nary a peep from the unions, let alone the media. But when a Scott Walker of Chris Christie does it, all hell breaks loose. So the Democrats could have a ticket with an anti-gay marriage candidate in Obama and a union-busting VP in Cuomo.

Finally, some change we can believe in.

It's probably a given the media will ignore the buildup of the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac fiasco while Cuomo was HUD Secretary under Bill Clinton. He doesn't need the messy reminders.

Radical Governor Threatens Government Shutdown

I can't wait to see all those union government workers marching on Albany with posters of Andrew Cuomo as Hitler.

Gov. Cuomo Wednesday took to the web to warn New Yorkers of a potential government shutdown.

With eight days to go until the April 1 budget deadline, Cuomo unveiled a web video vowing that the possibility of New York's first ever government shutdown won't force him back off his political mandate.

"If the Legislature fails to pass a budget on time, the government will not have the funds to operate and it may be forced to shut down," Cuomo says in the 2-minute, 43-second video.

Cuomo assured New Yorkers: "I will make sure we are prepared for this contingency."

"I don't want it to happen. I will do all I can do to get the budget accomplished. I'm working very hard to cooperate with the Legislature.

"But in the end I will not compromise on the important work that you elected me to do, and I will not back down from my promise to the people of this great state."

Cuomo has proposed closing a $10 billion deficit with steep cuts in education and health care, and as many as 9,800 layoffs - but no new taxes.

"My budget shakes up the Albany establishment, there's no doubt," he said. "The special interests and their lobbyists have been working overtime to stop the reforms that I have proposed."

Governor Walker in Wisconsin has a budget hole one-third the size of New York's and look how hysterical the left was. Now we don't hear a peep from the left.

Radical Governor Supported by Evil Koch Brother Blasts Teacher Scare Tactics

Can't wait to see the union goons and teachers marching on Albany to threaten radical teabagger Andrew Cuomo.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is blasting education advocates, saying they are making bogus claims that his proposed budget cuts will hurt children.

Cuomo says his plan isn't about laying off teachers in classrooms, or stopping students getting a good education.

Instead, he wants schools to cut bureaucracy.

Cuomo made these comments Thursday, as he and top lawmakers work to finalize the budget.

“I want everybody happy! I want everybody happy!” said Cuomo.

Cuomo may joke about the challenges of satisfying everyone at the budget table. But after a meeting with the top state lawmakers, he got very serious when it came to education cuts. And even angry at advocates who claim children will be hurt.

“If you cut the education budget you're going to hurt children.' That's their premise. No. I'm saying find 2.7 % efficiencies in the education budget that has gotten double digit increases and has gotten amazing increases over the past decade,” said Cuomo.

At rallies against the proposed $1.5 billion in cuts, like the one at HackettMiddle SchoolWednesday, have raised the fear that teachers will lose their jobs, programs will be drastically cut, and students will suffer. Cuomo says it's a distraction, not reality.

“It's a threat it's a game. It's a game they want to oppose the cuts politically so what do they say? I'm gonna hurt your child,” said Cuomo.

Curiously, national media and Democrats are silent when it comes to this showdown. Of course if Cuomo were a Republican there would be national hysteria, as in Wisconsin. Funny how that works.

Considering one of those wicked Koch brothers poured money into Cuomo's coffers last year, we're wondering why there's no interest.

The Democratic candidate for governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has been receiving campaign contributions from a surprising source, state campaign finance records show: Julia and David Koch, the businessman-philanthropist caricatured in a recent New Yorker piece (see our commentary here) as a corporate polluter who has secretly poured tens of millions of dollars into anti-Obama causes.

The contributions from Mr. Koch and his wife Julia to the Cuomo campaign total $74,900, according to the campaign finance records. David Koch made three separate gifts: $25,000 on July 10, 2010; $18,000 on November 16, 2009; and $6,900 on November 30, 2009. Julia Koch made two donations: $15,000 on July 10, 2010, and $10,000 on January 4, 2010.

Apparently David Koch lavishing tens of thousands of dollars on Democrats isn't very newsworthy.

Don't you just love the double standard?

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Angry Teabaggers Interrupt Andrew Cuomo Speech

Oh, it was a bunch of Democrat thugs calling for taxes on the evil rich? Never mind.

A defiant Gov. Cuomo renewed his no-tax-hike pledge last night after a former campaign foe disrupted his speech before the state Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators with chants of "Tax the Rich!"

Cuomo, speaking to reporters as participants continued pro-tax chants in the halls after his address, reiterated his call to let a 2-year-old tax hike on New Yorkers making more than $200,000 annually expire at year's end.

"I don't believe in increasing taxes," Cuomo said. "I believe it's counterproductive for the state. I believe more people will leave the state and you'll have less revenue."

The governor was seconds into his speech at the state Convention Center when City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), who had made a quixotic third-party run against Cuomo last year, led a small band up the center aisle chanting, "Tax the rich" and, "Shame on you!"

Of course Barron is too dense to realize the "rich" are fleeing New York in record numbers.

Barack Obama's buddy, the very wealthy tax cheat Al Sharpton, also joined in with the class warfare rhetoric. Ironically, Cuomo's budget calls for massive cuts in education spending, but oddly enough, Obama isn't sending in his union goons to protest, as they are in Wisconsin.

'In a Down Economy, This is a Death Spiral'

Good thing New York is run by Democrats. If this was a GOP-run state and they proposed such service cuts they'd be accused of hating children and wanting to throw old people out in the streets, left to eat cat food.

Shrieks echoed through the Capitol yesterday as Gov. Cuomo unleashed a $133 billion hack-and-slash spending plan that would subject schools, hospitals and the state workforce to some of the deepest cuts in recent memory and spare virtually no aspect of state government.

The governor's hard-times budget proposal would close a projected $10 billion gap with nearly $9 billion in cuts and no new borrowing or broad-based tax hikes. Cuts included $2.9 billion each in projected spending from Medicaid and local school aid -- among the largest on record.

"New York state is functionally bankrupt," Cuomo warned in his budget presentation to lawmakers, who will face pressure by special-interest groups to resist the cuts. "In a down economy, this is a death spiral," he said.

Cuomo ordered a 10 percent across-the-board spending cut to state agencies and threatened as many as 9,800 layoffs if public-employee unions reject a call for $450 million in annual concessions and givebacks.

Only in New York could a $133 billion budget be considered draconian.

Cuomo has suggested he would be willing to shut down state government if lawmakers fail to approve a spending plan by the April 1 start of the new fiscal year.

From colleges to libraries to prisons, few corners of state government would be left unscathed:

* The city stood to get $660 million less than last year in aid, including a $578 million reduction in school payments. However, Mayor Bloomberg -- factoring in the same assumed spending hike Cuomo criticized -- said the actual impact would be more like $2 billion.

Well, look at the upside. That probably means a lot fewer out-of-state gun stings to be run by Bloomberg.

'The Old Way of Solving the Problem was Continuing to Raise Taxes on People, and We Just Can't Do That Anymore'

What radical, tea-bagging enemy of "working families" uttered this blasphemous line upon taking office?

Why, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, of course. Money-grubbing teacher's unions hardest hit.

Read my lips: No new taxes -- and that includes levies on wealthy New Yorkers, Gov. Cuomo vowed yesterday.

Cuomo said he was against extending a "temporary" income-tax surcharge imposed on high-income earners in 2009 and set to expire at the end of 2011, despite having to close a massive $10 billion budget gap.

Cuomo indicated that renewing the surcharge would amount to a tax hike, which would violate his campaign pledge not to boost taxes.

"The old way of solving the problem was continuing to raise taxes on people, and we just can't do that anymore. The working families of New York cannot afford tax increases. The answer is going to have to be that we're going to have to reduce government spending," he said.

Ahh, the old "working families" line. But in a departure from the other 99.99% of living Democrats, Cuomo is thinking realistically.

Democrats often exclude higher-income earners when they invoke the phrase "working families" during tax-policy discussions.

But Cuomo said working families includes higher-income earners.

"They work, too," he said, noting that his opposition to tax hikes is "across the board."

What? This is sacrilege! Doesn't he know all those evil rich people just wake up wealthy one day and do nothing to earn it? You know, like his former in-laws, the Kennedys. Oh wait, they don't count when it comes to Democrat demagoguery.

Naturally this isn't going over well with the blood-sucking, tax-eating leeches.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said extending the tax surcharge on the wealthy has to be considered. Trying to solve the $10 billion budget gap solely through spending reductions would lead to a "catastrophic budget" akin to the city's 1975 fiscal crisis that fueled massive layoffs of teachers, cops and firefighters, and eliminated school programs and delayed crucial bridge maintenance, he said.

If Cuomo is smart he'll do just as his cohort across the Hudson, Chris Christie, has done, and take on the unions. Who knows, a few YouTube speeches later and he'll become a national icon.

'Does the Average Member of the Public Have Those Connections and Access?'

Of course the average member of the public doesn't have the same connections as the beautiful people. And if you're in New York, having the last name of Cuomo apparently goes a long way.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's cousin tried to help a client cash in on state pension fund business last year - a move made amid the attorney general's probe of a pay-to-play scandal.

Matthew Cuomo set up a June 23, 2009, meeting for Advanced Recovery - an upstate electronic-equipment recycling firm seeking a $5 million pension fund investment - with state Controller Thomas DiNapoli.

His face-to-face meeting marked one of the rare times last year that DiNapoli met with an investment-seeking company, a copy of his 2009 schedule shows.

Andrew Cuomo, who is running for governor, has for three years been investigating pension fund shenanigans under disgraced former Controller Alan Hevesi.

Firms wanting to do business with the fund were often forced to fork over campaign donations or kickbacks to Hevesi's political consultant, Hank Morris.

Andrew Cuomo is also targeting unlicensed politically connected middlemen who were paid big bucks by companies to help them get pension fund business.

Political hotshots being eyed for shepherding clients to the controller's office include former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx Democratic Chairman Roberto Ramirez and lobbyist Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

In case you're wondering, all the aforementioned are Democrats.

Matthew Cuomo, a lawyer, said he was "outside counsel" for the upstate Port Jervis company. He was hired despite having no background or certification in the securities industry.

Asked why an outside counsel with no securities background was needed to pitch a multimillion-dollar investment deal, Matthew Cuomo said, "I think I know how to get in touch with people and contact people and make a pitch and that's all I was able to do - get to the right people and make the pitch for the client."

Of course if his name were Matthew Smith, you suppose he'd get this meeting scheduled?

He said he's known DiNapoli through Democratic circles since the 1990s.

"This is what gives politicians in Albany a bad name, that it is an insider club," said Susan Lerner of the watchdog group Common Cause. "Does the average member of the public have those connections and access?"

John Milgram, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said, "Under current law, there is nothing that bans a single meeting. However, the attorney general believes the law should be changed and has advocated as such."

Matthew Cuomo vehemently denied trying to profit from his family name.

"I don't work for my cousin and he doesn't work for me," he said.

Let's hope his cousin is no longer working for New Yorkers come 2011.

Meanwhile Cuomo, the ultimate insider, is calling tea partiers extremists.

"Maybe they have had some kind of success in some parts of the country, but there's no place in New York for Tea Party politics," Cuomo said yesterday in Harlem. Using "extremist" and "Tea Party" interchangeably, Cuomo stressed his opponent's links to the nationwide movement. "Carl Paladino's Tea Party . . . is a party that has extremist views," Cuomo said.

If New York has no room for supposed extremists, then why is Cuomo in bed with the far-left ACORN-led Working Families Party, as radical and extremist a group as can be found in America today?

'A Nasty Person and He Wants to Say Nasty Things'

Even the folks who half-heartedly endorse Andrew Cuomo call him nasty, so having his opponent call him that isn't earth-shattering. But the rhetoric has already been ratcheted up to Defcon 5 int he New York gubernatorial race and no matter the outcome it now stands to be perhaps the most entertaining race of the season. Here int he New York market I can't wait to see the avalanche of commercials Carl Paladino plans to roll out.

Until Thursday, the Cuomo team was flummoxed over how to deal with the Paladino's relentlessly personal attacks.

Paladino recently questioned Cuomo's manhood, mocked his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and questioned whether he had the "cojones" to debate him.

On Thursday night, Paladino defended his business dealings as on the up and up and seemed energized that Cuomo finally entered the fray.

Appearing on upstate YNN's "Capital Tonight," the "mad as hell" candidate branded Cuomo "a nasty person and he wants to say nasty things."

"As long as he wants to play the tit-for-tat game, we've got a whole box of ammunition here that we're just going to throw right back at him," he said without specifying.

The Buffalo flame-thrower also said he believes the campaign is getting to Cuomo. He suggested Cuomo had a "glazed over look" in his eyes during an endorsement event with Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday.

"Like a deer in the headlights," Paladino said, expressing mock concern. "I don't want him to get himself sick over this stuff. Take it easy, Andy. Take a rest."

"Obviously he's very upset over the fact that his ego has been challenged now, his sense of entitlement has been challenged."

"Democrats are not going to line up behind you just because you're you," he added.

C'mon, Mr. Paladino, tell us how you really feel.

Here's a look at the most recent poll methodology that came up with two wildly different results this week.

Elsewhere, Dick Morris has a look at Congressional races around New York State, where he thinks this GOP can pick up as many as nine seats.

Spitzer on Cuomo: 'He is the Dirtiest, Nastiest Political Player Out There'

Coming from a lowlife like Eliot Spitzer I don't know if this is a cheap shot or a compliment.

"Well, what he needs to do is speak to the public and, of course, the problem that Andrew has is that everybody knows that behind the scenes, he is the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there and that is his reputation from years in Washington. When his father was governor, he was the tough guy. He has brass knuckles and he played hard ball. He has a lot of enemies out there. Nobody's been willing to stand up to him. When it appeared he was going to win, it was inevitable. If it appears not to be inevitable, things may change. He has a lot of folks, he's really been on the wrong side of who may stand up and say, wait a minute, he may not want to pretend he plays that game. He does, and he's worse at it."

'Have I Voted for the Mayor? Yes'

Geez, this guy can't even tell the truth about something so innocuous as to who he voted for? Well, it's no big deal, I guess. It'll be a one-night story and the media will basically give him a pass.

But for all his actions as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, Cuomo did have a little problem with telling the truth about his election box support for Mayor Bloomberg.

“Have I voted for the mayor? Yes,” Cuomo said.

Actually, he didn’t. The Cuomo campaign had to issue a clarification, saying he was only registered to vote in New York City in 2005 when he endorsed Democrat Fernando Ferrer.

Political experts say Cuomo can’t afford to make a mistake like that in a close contest.

“When the races tighten up in this way you can’t afford many more ‘whoops’ moments. He’s got to be a lot more careful going forward,” political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said.

The Paladino team used the faux pas to taunt Cuomo about not yet agreeing to debates.

Paladino spokesman Caputo said “Perhaps that’s why Andrew is afraid to debate. He misspeaks so much he fears facing the voters.”

Not exactly the best timing to be caught in a lie.

'I'm Not Going to Run a Campaign That Engages in Gutter Politics'

So says the man whose party just released a photo depicting his opponent as a pig.

Andrew Cuomo says he won't be getting into the political mud with Carl Paladino -- a day after the state Democratic Party he controls released a photo of Paladino's face slapped onto the body of a pig.

"I'm not going to run a campaign that engages in gutter politics. I'm not going to do that," the state attorney general and gubernatorial candidate said on an interview this morning on WGDJ radio in Albany.

The Democrat's comments signaled a public desire to let surrogates publicly take on the Buffalo Republican in the governor's race.

But Cuomo did try to distance himself from a "Paladino pig" photograph released Monday by the state Democratic Party, claiming Paladino is "at the public trough" because of his real estate business that has had dozens of leases with state agencies for space in Buffalo area office buildings.

"I don't think that was necessary," Cuomo said of the attack photo by his party. But, asked if he admonished those who created the photograph, Cuomo said, "No, I don't admonish anyone."

Cuomo insisted his campaign will take the high road over the next six weeks.

"In terms of getting involved in the name-calling situation, I'm not going to do that. I am not going to further degrade the political process of New York, which has been degraded plenty," Cuomo said.

Especially by all the lowlifes and miscreants in his party.

As to name-calling, Cuomo allegedly has a history of that.

Historic First: Schumer Unavailable for Comment

For a guy who would hold a press conference to announce a can opening, it's rather telling that the ubiquitous Chuckie Schumer is mum on whether he plans to slither into the scandal-plagued Charlie Rangel's birthday bash.

Two of New York's top statewide Democratic office holders dodged questions yesterday on whether they would attend the 80th-birthday fund-raiser for Rep. Charles Rangel, who is facing ethics charges.

Both Sen. Charles Schumer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declined to say whether they would show up for the bash at The Plaza hotel -- even though they're listed as members of the event's host committee.

Schumer repeatedly refused to answer when asked by The Post to give a "yes" or "no" answer about whether he's going on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Cuomo -- who has made a commitment to the highest ethics a centerpiece of his campaign for governor -- gave The Post an eyebrow-raising statement that insisted no decision has yet been made on whether he'll show.

"The attorney general hasn't figured out his schedule that far in advance," said the spokesman -- even though the event is just six days away.

The spokesman also noted, "The attorney general never said he was going." However, Cuomo is listed as one of the chief sponsors of the fund-raising event.

A Rangel campaign source said neither Schumer nor Cuomo have told the Harlem congressman they were backing out of the fund-raiser.

While Cuomo has made ethics reform a key platform in his campaign, he has angered some black leaders for not having a minority as his running mate or elsewhere on the slate of statewide candidates.

Some analysts said Rangel's alleged misdeeds have put Democrats in a bind.

"Schumer and Cuomo are probably embarrassed and offended by Rangel's offenses," said University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato.

"It's really hard to defend going to the fund-raiser. You're just going to give your opponent a club to hit you over the head with."

That would be all well and good if these two actually had some competiton running against them. Why should they worry when they're both likely to get 70% of the New York numbskull vote against virtually invisible token opposition from the GOP?

I See White People

These Democrats really ought to try a little diversity in their party. So many pasty-faced white people may not help get the votes from people of color. Of course a little payola to Democratic Party leader Al Sharpton will soften any hurt feelings.

New York's lineup of all-white candidates on the Democratic ballot this fall is already raising red flags.

"The problem is going to be one of getting enthusiasm in the black community, so they will want to come out and be supportive," said City Councilman Al Vann (D-Brooklyn).

The Dems' gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo and his running mate Robert Duffy are white, as are the party's candidates for U.S. Senate, attorney general and controller.

As one minority operative quipped of the new Democratic ticket, "Cuomo, DiNapoli & Duffy - it sounds like a Long Island law firm," adding the name of newly nominated state controller candidate Thomas DiNapoli to the mix.

So it was no accident that Cuomo made a quick, unsolicited call yesterday to the Rev. Al Sharpton, during which he sought to assure the civil rights activist that his administration would be diverse.

"Having a diverse administration is very important to me. It will be a top priority for me," Cuomo told reporters.

"You want to have an administration that reflects the diversity of New York. We will."

Oh sure, it'll be diverse. Every single member of his adminsitration will be a Democrat hack, just with a little extra color sprinkled in here and there for diversity purposes.

Heh: Corrupt WFP Wants Alec Baldwin to Run for Governor of NY

Staring at the prospect of losing their spot on future ballots, the scandal-ridden, ACORN-tied Working Families Party in New York is so desperate they're actually considering asking kook actor Alec Baldwin to run for Governor of New York.

The Working Families Party is so panicked a federal probe might keep Andrew Cuomo from accepting its ballot line in November, leaders are quietly mulling replacement candidates - even floating "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin.

The labor-backed party will seek a "superstar" liberal to head its ticket if Cuomo declines its support, according to sources with knowledge of its plans.

The stakes are high: The party, which was flush with success only last year, needs to get 50,000 votes or else it loses its place on the ballot in the future.

Baldwin would fit the bill. He's not only a celebrity with a lefty ideology, he has also has been politically active as a founder of the Creative Coalition, a social and political advocacy organization for the Hollywood set. He grew up on Long Island and even has upstate cred - his mother and sister live in the Syracuse area.

Baldwin has expressed an interest in running for office and was mentioned as a potential primary challenger to Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman in 2009.

In 2006, the Manhattan resident told The New York Times: "If I ever run for anything, the thing I would like to be is governor of New York."

As if the state's not enough of a mess already.

The Working Families Party has been under investigation by the Manhattan U.S. attorney since last winter for work done by its for-profit arm, Data and Field Services, in the 2009 elections.

Cuomo, all but guaranteed to get the Democratic line at the state party's convention this week, has yet to decide whether he will accept the Working Families line. Yesterday, Cuomo said it's too "premature" to say if he would accept the support of the Working Families Party. "We'll address that situation down the road," he said.

It would be difficult for Cuomo to run on his reform and ethics platform and also accept the Working Families line if the investigation is ongoing this fall.

The WFP, of course, is joined at the hip with ACORN and assorted far-left unions. Cuomo should take some advice and steer clear of that odious crew.

'Rin Tin Tin Could Beat Paterson'

Looks like Barack Obama has his priorities in order. Forget terror threats, an economic morass and his own party facing huge trouble at the national level. His main focus is replacing one Democrat governor with another. Nothing like showing true leadership through petty spitefulness.

President Obama still wants Gov. Paterson dumped from the Democratic ticket, even though the field of GOP candidates for governor is weaker now that Rudy Giuliani is out of the race, a high-level source close to the White House told The Post.

Paterson told friends and associates in recent days -- and even suggested on "Larry King Live" -- that the announcement by Giuliani, who polls showed would have crushed Paterson, has led the president to reconsider the stunning September disclosure that he was opposed to the governor's candidacy.

But the White House source, who has direct knowledge of the president's views, insisted, "Nothing has changed."

"Rin Tin Tin could beat Paterson," said the source, a well-known figure in state and national Democratic circles.

"Paterson's position is as bad as any incumbent governor anywhere in America."

The source said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo "has to run," and predicted he would be a strong candidate.

While the source wouldn't say whether Obama would intervene even more aggressively to force Paterson out of the race, he suggested the governor might have no choice. "This has its own weight," he said.

Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann said the governor wouldn't be "commenting on any private conversations with the White House."

Paterson, who became governor in March 2008, after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a hooker scandal, has been fighting record-low poll numbers, fund-raising problems and the state's fiscal crisis.

In two years Obama himself may well be staring at record-low poll numbers, fund-raising problems and a national fiscal crisis.

Rin Tin Tin could be a contender come 2012.

Meanwhile, one New York Democrat up to his neck in ethical problems casts his lot with Paterson.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Dem on Dem Action: Paterson Digging Up Dirt on Andrew Cuomo

It's probably a waste of money considering David Paterson trails Andrew Cuomo by about 70 points in the polls, but it's a sign he'll go down fighting. Hey, whatever it takes. Maybe it'll soften up Cuomo for the general election, even though the New York GOP is so inept they'll probably be steamrolled anyway.

Gov. Paterson has hired the man who was responsible for "negative research" on then-presidential candidate Barack Obama to dig up dirt on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is preparing to run for governor, The Post has learned.

Paterson's campaign committee signed Maryland-based Judd Legum, research director for then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bitterly fought presidential primary campaign against Obama in 2008, to a five-week contract earlier this month, with the understanding that he would "prepare a research book on Cuomo" and other potential candidates for governor, said a prominent Democratic Party activist.

"Legum is the guy who did a lot of the opposition research work on Obama, and now Paterson's people are outsourcing that kind of work on Cuomo to him," said the source, who demanded anonymity.

Legum, a friend of Paterson campaign spokeswoman and strategist Tracy Sefl, is being paid about $25,000 for the project, it was learned.

Legum confirmed that he had been hired by Paterson's campaign but, when asked to describe his job, insisted, "I really can't talk about that now," and hung up the phone.

Repeated attempts to reach Legum for additional comment were unsuccessful.

Sefl, who worked with Legum in the Clinton campaign, refused to say whether he had been hired to dig up dirt.

"I'm not going to comment on that," she insisted.

Legum obviously didn't get the job done when it came to snooping on Obama.

Surprise: NYC 'Homeless' Group a Total Scam

How long until we find out this dubious crew has some links to ACORN? They're got a 501(C)(3) tax exemption and have been in operation since 1985 and just now people have figured out this is a scam?

Just in time for the holidays, state authorities are going for the jug-ular -- seeking to banish forever the panhandling pests who clog Manhattan's busiest corners with folding tables and plastic water bottles.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed suit yesterday, charging the United Homeless Organization is a scam run by con artists who pocket most of the change they collect -- hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The beggars -- most of whom claim to be street people -- say that the money tossed into their jugs goes to the homeless. And it does, the suit says. They just don't bother to say they're talking about themselves.

UHO founder Stephen Riley and director Myra Walker take a big cut of the money to fund personal shopping sprees at the GameStop, Home Shopping Network, Bed Bath & Beyond and P.C. Richard, as well as their monthly cable bills, legal papers charge.

Riley, a beefy 60-year-old, shamelessly used the donated dollars -- which are supposed to be used to "feed the homeless" -- to pay his Weight Watchers bills.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeks a temporary injunction to shut down the UHO, then permanently disband it and keep Riley and Walker from ever taking part in charitable causes.

The organization, run out of Walker's Bronx apartment, did not return a call for comment.

The scam was strikingly simple, Cuomo said.

Riley, who founded the UHO in 1985 and got tax-exempt status for it eight years later, charges a flat-rate $15 to $25 to rent a table and empty water jug for a four-hour shift.

"In exchange for paying a fee to Riley, UHO workers received tables and UHO-branded materials, including a tablecloth, apron and plastic jug, and the right to claim membership in UHO," the suit charged.

They also get a copy of UHO's New York state incorporation receipt they can use to convince suspicious New Yorkers and trusting tourists that they're legit.

After deducting the "rent," the table worker keeps all the donations -- up to $80 a shift during peak season.

And with 50 tables around Manhattan -- each operating for two to three shifts seven days a week -- Riley and Walker could have collected well over $100,000 in fees a year, officials estimate.

"Riley and Walker treated the 'fees' as their personal kitty, dipping into them whenever they choose," the suit says.

One of their "managers" gives it all up.

"The money goes to the homeless," claimed Rodney Borders, a self-described UHO "manager" who said he's been panhandling with the group for 4½ years.

When pressed, Borders, who was collecting from commuters at Penn Station, admitted, "We don't own any shelters or soup kitchens. The money provides us with everyday money."

It's a good thing a Democrat like Cuomo is the one going after these thugs. Imagine how heartless and cruel a Republican would be portrayed as for going after the "homeless" this time of year?

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Raaaaacist! 'Obama Should Mind His Own Business'

Oh, wait a minute. It can't be raaaaacist when a black politician criticizes another, can it? But if a white one says 'you lie' then it is?

Can someone lay out the rules for who can criticize Obama? We're all walking around on eggshells trying to avoid the perception of being raaaaacist, and we just can't have our betters on the left pointing fingers.

So in this case, we'll just let a black man do the criticizing after Obama threw the black Governor of New York under the bus.

It was all over after Gov. Paterson played the race card.

Sources familiar with President Obama's shocking effort to force Paterson out of the 2010 elections told The Post yesterday that the governor's rant last month about racial bias in the media spurred the move.

"If there's one thing that sealed the governor's fate, it was the racial comments, which is just what the president doesn't need," said a prominent New York Democrat. "It was a stupid statement. It wasn't true, it damaged the president, and the governor's paying the price for it now."

The White House had grown increasingly concerned that Paterson's weakness could hurt the party's majorities in Congress and encourage Republican Rudy Giuliani to pursue the Governor's Office as a platform for a White House run in 2012, sources told The Post.

Then, in August, Paterson caused a national furor during a rambling radio interview in which he accused a white-dominated media of waging an "orchestrated" campaign to force him and other prominent black Democrats from office.

How's that for some irony? Obama's surrogates all over the media have been shamelessly playing the race card from the bottom of the deck the past couple of weeks, and now Obama's concerned that Paterson's playing the race card is going to hurt Democrats.

Well, not so much Democrats, but him in particular. It's all about The O.

Publicly, however, Paterson supporters refused to accept reports that the president wants to push the governor aside, even though the White House by yesterday evening had issued no official denial.

"It's only a report from reporters," said US Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem). "There's absolutely no evidence to substantiate this, but all of a sudden, it's a news story."

City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) said: "Obama should mind his own business. He's got enough to take care of in Washington. We don't need him to tell us who our governor should be."

Obama, naturally, is looking out for himself, the main reason Paterson today has tire tracks all across his back.

Obama knows that Paterson is the most unpopular governor in the United States, and -- given the problems that are racking so many states -- that's saying a lot.

And Obama, concerned with his own declining poll numbers, knows Paterson is so inept that virtually every Democratic elected official is holding his/her breath fearing the governor will cost the party key elective offices next year -- as well as the crucial control (from a redistricting point of view) of the state Senate.

But most importantly, Obama realizes that the only thing that could stand between his own re-election in 2012 and a direct challenge from former mayor and potential Republican gubernatorial and presidential contender Rudy Giuliani -- the man who defeated New York City's first black mayor -- is Attorney General Cuomo, the state's most popular politician and one who unfailingly beats Giuliani in the polls.

The way things are going for Democrats, they're getting way ahead of themselves thinking Cuomo can just coast to victory against Giuliani, if indeed Giuliani runs.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

New York Pols Pimp-Slap ACORN

Despite the antique media's best efforts at downplaying the mushrooming ACORN scandal, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and New York City Council President Christine Quinn, Democrats both, are moving quickly to freeze local funding to this criminal enterprise.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday launched an investigation into pork-barrel grants given to ACORN by state lawmakers, as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn froze all city funding earmarked for the scandal-scared community-activism organization.

The actions by the Democratic officials followed release of a shocking undercover video that showed employees at a Brooklyn ACORN office giving illicit financial advice to activists posing as a pimp and prostitute who wanted to start a brothel.

The agency was among several ACORN affiliates, including offices in Baltimore, Washington and San Bernardino, Calif., exposed in the hidden-camera sting.

On Monday, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to block federal funding to the community group, while Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes opened an investigation into the local office in response to a report in The Post.

A spokesman for Cuomo said the attorney general would seek to make sure pork-barrel grants directed to ACORN by state lawmakers were spent on tax-preparation and loan-counseling services, as intended.

"We are now closely monitoring that investigation to preserve the integrity of state funds," Cuomo spokesman Richard Bamberger said.

"We will be reviewing member-item contracts involving ACORN in light of the district attorney's investigation."

A source told The Post that Cuomo is considering freezing any funds set aside for ACORN until after Hynes completes his investigation.

A spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state's financial watchdogs would also flag future payments to ACORN for extra scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Quinn went a step further, suspending all ACORN grants sponsored by City Council members until Hynes concludes his investigation, according to one city lawmaker Quinn told about the move.

Some ACORN spokesthing naturally offers a mealy-mouthed excuse but it's pretty clear the videotaped incidents at ACORN offices around the country are having an effect on this outlaw group so closely connected to Democrats. House and Senate Democrats will do their best to quash any investigation but if the states begin pursuing this independently there may be some hope this mob can finally be de-funded.

I love this comment from a Post reader:

Could Andrew Cuomo phone his brother Chris over at ABC (All Barack Channel) to tell him about this scandel? Curiously, no one over there seems to know anything about this.