Cuomo '84

[themadmac]

Anyone have any thoughts about what might have happened had Mario Cuomo ran/been drafted to run for the Democrats in 1984?  

How do you think he'd have fared against Ronald Reagan?  Would he have lost by a similar margin as Mondale, or would he have made it more competitive?

[Keystone Phil]

Probably more competitive but Reagan still wins in a huge landslide. Maybe getting 45 or 46 states instead of 49.

[Gabu]

It might have not been such a huge sweep, but as my history teacher put it, Reagan "bled red, white, and blue".  He was just too good to be stopped.

[The Duke]

Cuomo only had two years as a governor, I think.  Reagan wins big, though smaller than against Mondale.

[King]

Cuomo only had two years as a governor, I think.  Reagan wins big, though smaller than against Mondale.

Pennsylvania would have gone for Cuomo..since western Penn went for Mondale then a more regional candidate could win it...

[Keystone Phil]

This looks possible...



In my opinion the only reason why Mondale won MN (and he just barley won it by a couple thousand votes) was because it was his home state so in a Reagan - Cuomo race, Reagan might have been able to win there.

[lidaker]

Cuomo could never have won the nomination in '84. He had then been governor in N.Y. for only one year. He first came to national attention during the democratic convention that year, with a great speech questioning Reagan's "shining city on a hill" metaphor.

[ThePrezMex]

Cuomo could never have won the nomination in '84. He had then been governor in N.Y. for only one year. He first came to national attention during the democratic convention that year, with a great speech questioning Reagan's "shining city on a hill" metaphor.

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?
Who would he have chosen as his running mate?

[lidaker]

Cuomo could never have won the nomination in '84. He had then been governor in N.Y. for only one year. He first came to national attention during the democratic convention that year, with a great speech questioning Reagan's "shining city on a hill" metaphor.

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?
Who would he have chosen as his running mate?

I don't know if Cuomo would have "kept silent" after the attacks, part of the problem was that the Dukakis campaign never had time to figure out a strategy since the nomination battle continued for so long, with Jesse Jackson refusing to give up. Another part of the problem was that Dukakis didn't understand how to present himself in front of a national audience. He followed his own liberal guts, which obviously wasn't the right tactic. Someone said a liberal is someone capable of understanding everyone except those who disagree with him and if that's true, I'm not sure Cuomo would have fared better - he certainly adhered to the same liberal tradition as Dukakis. He would have done better in the debates though, I'm pretty sure. He was much more quick-witted than Dukakis.

[ATFFL]

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?

I think Cuomo would have destroyed GHW Bush. I believe the only reason Bush won was that Dukakis was THAT bad. He was as bad as Dole was in 1996.

Cuomo would never run for President because of the shady tie sin his past.  If he did get drafted and talked into it he would be buried by the scandals coming to light.

[dazzleman]

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?

I think Cuomo would have destroyed GHW Bush. I believe the only reason Bush won was that Dukakis was THAT bad. He was as bad as Dole was in 1996.

Cuomo would never run for President because of the shady tie sin his past.  If he did get drafted and talked into it he would be buried by the scandals coming to light.

I heard this many times before, that Cuomo had done work for the mob in his early legal career.  He was known as the "Hamlet on the Hudson" in 1988 and 1992 when he couldn't make up his mind whether to run for president or not.

I don't think he would have beaten George Bush in 1988, but the result would have been a lot closer.  I think much of the country simply would not have voted for a New Yorker, particularly one with roots in the city, and whose name ended in a vowel.

[ThePrezMex]

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?

I think Cuomo would have destroyed GHW Bush. I believe the only reason Bush won was that Dukakis was THAT bad. He was as bad as Dole was in 1996.

Cuomo would never run for President because of the shady tie sin his past.  If he did get drafted and talked into it he would be buried by the scandals coming to light.

Well, that's interesting. I always wondered why he decided not to run in 88 and 92 when his name was continually mentioned. He never gave a good reason (well, in 92 it was basically the same as Gephardt, Gore and the others, they perceived GHWBush as invincible then). Do you know any article or book or anything where they talk about this?

[Dr. Cynic]

Cuomo should have run in 88, he probably would've won, if he had the same twenty something point lead after the convention.

[Michael Z]

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?

I think Cuomo would have destroyed GHW Bush. I believe the only reason Bush won was that Dukakis was THAT bad. He was as bad as Dole was in 1996.

I agree, Cuomo would not have been the pushover Dukakis turned out to be. He would've campaigned along more centrist lines, and he certainly would have been able to counter Bush's fierce negative campaigning much more effectively.

Not sure what's behind those mob-related rumours, though. For sure something like that would have buried Cuomo during a Presidential campaign.

[ATFFL]

That's right. Cuomo was the expected to run by a lot of people both in 1988 and in 1992 and he decided not to run in either.
I think he would have had a better result than Dukakis in 1988. Certainly he would not have kept silent after the attacks of Lee Atwater and company. Don't know if he could have defeated GHW Bush.. what do you think?

I think Cuomo would have destroyed GHW Bush. I believe the only reason Bush won was that Dukakis was THAT bad. He was as bad as Dole was in 1996.

Cuomo would never run for President because of the shady tie sin his past.  If he did get drafted and talked into it he would be buried by the scandals coming to light.

Well, that's interesting. I always wondered why he decided not to run in 88 and 92 when his name was continually mentioned. He never gave a good reason (well, in 92 it was basically the same as Gephardt, Gore and the others, they perceived GHWBush as invincible then). Do you know any article or book or anything where they talk about this?

No one ever went into his mob ties in detail for a few reasons.  One is the main reason few reporters investigate the mob, its quite dangerous.  Another is that it gave some regions power over the Governor.   Finally, the Unions (the source of Mario's mob connections) threatened to strike and cripple any paper that tried to bring their boy down.

Most articles that talk about his connections refer to them generally, or point out that most democrat governors of NY did little about the mob to keep their union money flowing.

His inactivity against the mob and allowing it to take over the Jacob Javits Center.  The extent that the mob controlled the building was a contributing factor to Mario's downfall.

How mobbed up was the Javits Center?  I went to the Auto show there in '94 with a friend.  On the way in I held to door open for an older gentleman in a suit.  There were two bruisers with him, also in suits.  My first clue I had done a mobster a favor was I got a $20 bill for holding the door open.  Gotta love the mafia tipping mentality.

You had to show ID on the way in.  After showing my ID, with my nice Italian last name, I was called by my last name by every worker at the center.  My food was free and the exhibitors gave me every freebie they had.  

http://www.city-journal.org/html/11_1_how_to_run.html

The allegations have died down since Cuomo's political career came to an end.  No one cares anymore.