■ Has Mario Cuomo waited too long? Two things came out of the Chicago meeting of Democratic state chairmen: 1) Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas emerged as star of the cattle show; 2) no one seemed to miss Cuomo. Evans & Novak report it was “hard to find a supporter [of Cuomo] here. The consensus: ‘Forget it, Mario!’ ”… Sam Barone, executive director of Ohio Democratic Party, argues that Clinton will play better in Rust Belt than Cuomo in South. . . . And Ed Martin, executive director of Texas Dems, concluded: “At this meeting he [Clinton] was head and shoulders above everybody else. If anyone tells you different, they are partisan.” . . . Other Chicago appraisals: Sen. Tom Harkin’s old- line liberal rhetoric brings Democratic crowds to their feet, but it may turn off more voters than it turns on. . . . Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey’s pitch was better received. He could do well, say the pros, in South Dakota primary, which follows New Hampshire by a week. Harkin, as an Iowa native, would be expected to sweep Iowa caucuses. . . . Cuomo’s presidential ambitions taking a pounding back home. Recent New York Times poll on three Northeastern governors found Cuomo with approval rating of 37 per cent; roughly one out of three New York voters likes him. He did better than Connecticut’s Lowell Weicker (23 per cent approval) and New Jersey’s Jim Florio (26 per cent), to be sure, but they’re not considering a presidential run. . . . The new business-oriented CHANGE-NY continues to ride herd on Cuomo’s performance. Its latest release shows New York State spending up 106 per cent since Cuomo took office in 1983, compared to inflation of 42.6 per cent. It also reveals federal grants to New York increased by 123 per cent since 1983, despite Cuomo’s complaints that federal cutbacks are responsible for New York’s fiscal blahs.
■ GOP presidential developments: Christian Science Monitor political analyst Everett Carll Ladd scoffs at common wisdom that ’92 will be fought primarily on domestic issues. “Of all the pumped-up, hyped-up, silly ideas floated in recent campaigns, the argument that foreign affairs takes a back seat to domestic is easily the most ludicrous,” says Ladd. . . . Pat Buchanan’s move toward challenging George Bush in New Hampshire primary setting off flares. Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey, now a New Hampshire state legislator, denies reports that he will support Buchanan. “I disagree with Pat on foreign policy,” says Humphrey. “I am not an isolationist.” . . . But former Nixon White House operative G. Gordon Liddy is delighted: “Pat’s going to win. I’m going to see to it. I don’t care where I have to break in.” . . . Fact that Robert Teeter and Roger Ailes played major part in shaping disastrous Richard Thornburgh senatorial campaign against Sen. Harris Wofford in Pennsylvania could have negative impact on their position on Bush campaign team. . . . AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland made a point of praising Wofford for voting against giving Bush “fast track” authority on U.S.—Mexico free-trade agreement. Labor intends to make protectionism a major ’92 election issue.
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