Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has earned bipartisan plaudits for his diplomatic handling of New York’s coronavirus crisis. With his tempered daily briefings about the pandemic, Cuomo is a constant presence in the news — a marked contrast to President Trump’s random spats with the media. But Cuomo might be striking an even sharper contrast with Joe Biden, who seems to be in hiding.
Some of this has led liberals to entertain the fantasy that Cuomo could somehow replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. That wouldn’t only be practically impossible. It would also be a colossal political miscalculation.
Next to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Cuomo is a moderate. But outside of the New York metro area, Cuomo is anything but. In 2013, Cuomo enacted the most extreme gun control in the country with the NY SAFE Act, and in 2019, he restricted gun rights even further, banning bump stocks and preventing teachers from bringing guns to schools. In tandem with his effective legalization of abortion up until the point of birth, Cuomo’s approval in the state sank to 43%, its lowest level ever.
Most of the country takes a moderate approach to abortion and guns. Although the most vocal Democrats have abandoned “safe, legal, and rare,” the rest of the country still believes it, with two out of three pro-choice Americans supportive of a ban on third-trimester abortion. The nation is slightly more split on gun control, but still, the majority reject assault rifle bans. Biden is to the left of the average voter on that score, but Cuomo is much more so.
But voters decide with their hearts, and that’s Biden’s greatest appeal. Sure, he’s been ruthless at times, but Biden has successfully rebranded himself as a statesman with the ability to work across the aisle. Cuomo is famous for proclaiming that “extreme” conservatives “have no place in the state of New York.” The voters who will decide aren’t in New York or California. They’re in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and if you want to run against Trump’s partisanship, Cuomo isn’t your guy.
Like it or not, Democratic voters overwhelmingly chose Biden. In a completely open primary with virtually no input from party leaders, Biden remained the dominant front-runner for most of the year and blew out his competitors in state elections. Even if elites are shopping elsewhere, the voters have already decided that Biden is their guy.
