Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has had his political career fully rehabilitated. His Democratic colleague, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, can’t be allowed to have the same career recovery.
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is running for his old post and last week decided to tout the fact that he had landed Northam’s endorsement. In case it hadn’t been clear that Northam has completely recovered from his blackface/Ku Klux Klan yearbook photo scandal two years ago, McAuliffe was among those who had called on Northam to resign. Now, he is “honored to have his support.”
Northam’s scandal was relatively benign compared to Cuomo’s, given that the old yearbook photo overshadowed his comments in support of letting newborn infants die without care if that’s what the mother wanted. Yet the entire Democratic Party crashed down on him, with everyone from then-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to Virginia House Democrats calling on him to step down.
All Northam had to do was refuse to resign and wait out the news cycle. Democrats simply called on him to resign to get the media off of their backs, and now Northam has been accepted back into the club. And Cuomo is going to be next.
Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, among others, called on Cuomo to resign so they could stop worrying about receiving questions about him. Cuomo’s issues were far worse than Northam’s, as he manipulated coronavirus data involving nursing homes to cover up the preventable deaths caused by his nursing home order. He’s also facing multiple accusations of sexual harassment.
Cuomo is facing impeachment, but with Democrats waving off the issue after calling for him to resign, it’s possible that could run out of steam. The chairman of the New York State Democratic Party already said last month that everyone should move on because Cuomo, like Northam, has simply refused to resign.
Democrats let Cuomo off the hook by calling on him to resign rather than backing the Legislature’s push to impeach him. Northam provided him with the blueprint: Ignore the criticism and just wait until everyone moves on. Unless the pressure remains on New York Democrats to continue on with his impeachment, Cuomo’s reintegration into Democratic politics will follow the same trajectory as Northam’s.
