Politics is a funny thing. Five years ago, when he was riding high as the Democrat governor of New York, mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo<\/u> could never have imagined that the future of his political career would be in the hands of New York City Republican voters<\/u>.<\/p>\n
It’s a bit strange for the Republican voters too, but having lost the Democratic primary to far-left Zohran Mamdani<\/u>, Cuomo\u2019s only chance to win is to convince those voters, who polls show are backing Curtis Sliwa, that he deserves to be mayor.<\/p>\n
So far, for Cuomo, this has mainly consisted of him saying that, unlike Mamdani, he is not a communist. Yes, that\u2019s good, but like putting ‘not in prison’ on your dating profile, it’s kind of the bare minimum.<\/p>\n
Whether Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who currently polls under 20%, drops out or not, and it\u2019s not looking likely, Cuomo is going to have to convince Gotham\u2019s conservatives<\/u> to choose him. Here are a few ways he might do it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nA Seat At The Table<\/h3>\n
Cuomo should pledge that, if he is elected, Republicans will play a major role in his administration. This could look a lot of ways, including promising to make a strong GOP voice like former City Councilman Joe Borelli or current City Council member Vickie Paladino a deputy mayor. Cuomo\u2019s original pitch<\/u> in this campaign was to unite the city, but so far there is no indication that his would be anything other than a boilerplate Democrat administration. That has to change.<\/p>\nSupport ICE<\/h3>\n
On Tuesday, Cuomo sent out an ill-advised X post criticizing Immigration Customs and Enforcement<\/u> for raids in New York\u2019s Chinatown that targeted illegal street vendors. There is no doubt the liberals in Cuomo\u2019s war room noted the chaos on the streets and saw an opportunity to put up points against President Donald Trump<\/u>. But actually, they missed an opportunity.<\/p>\n
The reason we see this aggressive approach from ICE in Gotham is that, as a sanctuary city<\/u>, the legal system will not cooperate with ICE. So, instead of a simple and safe handover of an illegal migrant with a detainer, the feds are forced to conduct raids. Cuomo, in one sentence, could pledge to end this.<\/p>\nPromise To Work With Trump<\/h3>\n
One of the most perplexing positions that Cuomo has staked out since he launched his independent bid is that Democrat Mamdani<\/u> is too weak to effectively fight Trump, but that he\u2019ll walk forward if the president puts his finger in his chest. Cuomo plays the tough guy role pretty well, but the problem is that the voters he needs really like Trump. A lot.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Cuomo can help his cause with GOP voters enormously if he would just say that Trump\u2019s results in Washington, D.C., have been tremendous, and he is committed to working with the president to clean up New York\u2019s parks and streets and deal with vagrancy and addiction.<\/p>\n
Even on the Indie line, Andrew Cuomo is still a Democrat of long standing, and in an Interview with Bret Baier on Fox News Channel Tuesday night, he finally began to call out the threat that the far left poses to his party. He also said that the reason top party leaders in New York like Sen. Chuck Schumer<\/u> and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries won\u2019t endorse him over Zany Zohran is that, ‘If a politician doesn\u2019t have to make a decision, they\u2019re not going to make a decision.’<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not good enough. If Mamdani really is the existential threat to New York that Cuomo and Sliwa both claim, then any Democrat who refuses to call out communism in their own party must be put on blast. Cuomo needs to call out the cowardice<\/u>.<\/p>\nPledge To Primary Socialists In New York<\/u><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
One of the reasons that GOP voters are skeptical of Cuomo is that even if he won, and even if he had the best intentions in the world, the rest of the city government is overrun with Democrat Socialists who will thwart his efforts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Cuomo should promise that if elected, he will work to fill all of those positions with traditional, normal Democrats, to the extent he can still find any, and will oppose the vigorous Marxism overtaking the party.<\/p>\n
Even if Cuomo does all of these things, it’s still a long shot, but it would be a new race, a different race. Republican voters need a real choice. They don’t expect Sliwa to triumph, but right now, Cuomo looks too much like Mamdani to win them over.<\/p>\n
Like it or not, Cuomo\u2019s chances now rest in the hands of GOP voters. Is he capable of telling them what they want and need to hear?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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