President Cuomo? Liberals Fantasize About Biden Replacement

As the left grapples with a presidential candidate who has difficulty completing full sentences and was just slapped with a sexual assault allegation that the staunch feminists in the #MeToo movement have chosen to ignore – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has emerged as a fantasy pick to supplant Joe Biden and beat President Trump in November.

Cuomo has received heaping praise over his response to the COVID-19 crisis – holding near-daily briefings as New York now has the most infected residents in the United States – with just under half the country’s cases and deaths. His broadcasts have become somewhat of a Democratic counterpoint to President Trump’s daily appearances, according to Bloomberg – which notes that unlike Biden (whose own briefings have been more ‘old man shaking fist’ than action), Cuomo can take action.

Cuomo was U.S. housing secretary in the Clinton administration and is the oldest son of beloved Democratic New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who dallied with running for president in the 1980s and 1990s. As if that wasn’t enough of a Democratic political dynasty, Cuomo, 62, was once married to a Kennedy. –Bloomberg

As Bloomberg notes, the hashtag #PresidentCuomo was trending on Twitter last week as rumors of a Cuomo nomination swirled on the left – including from MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow, who called him “president of the coronavirus response,” and NYT columnist Maureen Dowd. Cuomo has also made regular appearances on his hot-headed brother Chris Cuomo’s CNN show where the two have traded brotherly barbs to inject levity.

Networks even preempted a Biden speech last week to broadcast one of Cuomo’s briefings.

Betters at online oddsmaker PredictIt even have Cuomo neck and neck with Bernie Sanders! (I-VT)

To top it off, longtime New York political player, Jim Larocca – who worked with Andrew when his father Mario was the governor, recently wrote in Long Island newspaper Newsday that Democrats should swap him for Biden, Bloomberg reports.

“The governor is displaying a real measure of passion about the subject, compassion for the victims, and humanity about the impacts,” wrote Larocca, adding “The contrast with the president’s behavior could not be more pronounced.”

That said, experts on the Democratic nominating process say a Cuomo run is a pipe dream.

Biden was on track to win a majority of delegates, allowing him to easily win in the first round of voting at the Democratic national convention, when the coronavirus stopped the nominating process in its tracks. That left him and Bernie Sanders — who is still actively running for the job — with little to do but rail against the president and offer alternative plans via live-stream to combat the virus.

The deadline has passed for more candidates to join the race, so the only way Cuomo could become the nominee is if voting went into a second round, when delegates are free to choose. But there are still hundreds of delegates pledged to Sanders, and a few pledged to former candidates like Pete Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren. They would all have to switch as well. –Bloomberg

According to NYU Law School election expert Richard Pildes, Cuomo’s nomination is a “far-fetched scenario” which may only seem likely now because Democratic primaries are on hold – with contests having been postponed until May or June thanks to the Chinese coronavirus.

“Given the volatility of the world right now, you can imagine a lot of things happening between now and June 2,” said Pildes – adding that a brokered convention – which last occurred in 1952, is also a longshot unless Biden was seriously ill or dead.

Bloomberg suggests that the sudden surge for Cuomo may be Democratic ‘buyer’s remorse’ over picking Biden, who may not be the strongest candidate.