For the Record

■ As the nation waited for Mario Cuomo to make up his mind, considerable Cuomo-bashing was going on in the press. Washington Post columnist David Broder pondered whether there was anything to Cuomo but rhetoric, and listed some major political negatives: 1) Cuomo is unpopular at home (polls show New Yorkers prefer George Bush to Cuomo, 56 to 31 per cent); 2) he’s on bad terms with both Albany legislature and press; and 3) he knows nothing of foreign affairs and seems uninterested in broadening that horizon. (Broder cites New York Times story that in nine years as governor Cuomo has “spent only 36 nights away from the Executive Mansion.”) . . . Christian Science Monitor political analyst Everett Carll Ladd, of the Roper polling organization, says “it needs to be remembered that with the exception of his 1986 gubernatorial race, Cuomo has not run well in his previous campaigns for office,” and cites his less-than-landslide victories over political neophytes Lew Lehrman and Pierre Rinfret. Ladd also points out that Michael Dukakis was relatively popular back home when he ran for President, while Cuomo is not. “There is simply no evidence that Cuomo has captured the public imagination,” he concludes. . . . Republican political operative Roger Stone adds: “Dukakis ran on the Massachusetts miracle. Cuomo would have to run on the New York nightmare.” . . . Boston Globe’s Martin Nolan calls Cuomo “Hamlet on the Hudson.” . . . Lacklusterness of Democratic presidential effort can be summed up by FEC figures. FEC reports by end of September the six Democratic candidates had raised a total of $2.2 million. By same date in 1987, each of the five Dems in race had raised that much; Dukakis had more than $8 million. . . . How’re the candidates doing? Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) proudly announces that Roseanne Barr will campaign for him in Iowa. . . . John Bunzel comments that his fellow Californians are not sure former Gov. Jerry Brown “has solved the re-entry problem.” Some polls show Brown topping the Democratic list. . . . And Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder took a severe hit in Nov. 5 voting as GOP made sweeping gains in both Virginia Senate and General Assembly. Little noticed, that Wilder approval rating had slipped to 30 per cent once he started spending one out of every three days out of state campaigning for Presidency.

■ About those hard-to-read elections, Washington Post columnist William Raspberry may have put his finger on what happened. “Every now and then,” he says, “the voters throw a tantrum and toss out good guy and bad guy indiscriminately. ‘Look at me!’ they shout. ‘Pay some attention to the things I’m interested in, or get out of my life.’ ”. . . Ronald Reagan’s former political director Ed Rollins warns George Bush that there’s a big lesson to be learned from Nov. 5. He thinks GOP could lose White House “unless people start focusing on the issues that matter to people, and that’s the economy, the economy, and the economy.” … In midst of evident political discontent, there’s growing talk of possible challenge to Bush from the Right in presidential primaries. Names most often mentioned are Pat Buchanan and, since his public break (Face the Nation) with official White House policy on tax cuts, HUD Secretary Jack Kemp.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Elections

Presidential Election

■ As the nation waited for Mario Cuomo to make up his mind, considerable Cuomo-bashing was going on in the press. Washington Post columnist David Broder pondered whether there was anything to Cuomo but rhetoric, and listed some major political negatives: 1) Cuomo is unpopular at home (polls show New Yorkers prefer George Bush to Cuomo, 56 to 31 per cent); 2) he’s on bad terms with both Albany legislature and press; and 3) he knows nothing of foreign affairs and seems uninterested in broadening that horizon. (Broder cites New York Times story that in nine years as governor Cuomo has “spent only 36 nights away from the Executive Mansion.”) . . . Christian Science Monitor political analyst Everett Carll Ladd, of the Roper polling organization, says “it needs to be remembered that with the exception of his 1986 gubernatorial race, Cuomo has not run well in his previous campaigns for office,” and cites his less-than-landslide victories over political neophytes Lew Lehrman and Pierre Rinfret. Ladd also points out that Michael Dukakis was relatively popular back home when he ran for President, while Cuomo is not. “There is simply no evidence that Cuomo has captured the public imagination,” he concludes. . . . Republican political operative Roger Stone adds: “Dukakis ran on the Massachusetts miracle. Cuomo would have to run on the New York nightmare.” . . . Boston Globe’s Martin Nolan calls Cuomo “Hamlet on the Hudson.” . . . Lacklusterness of Democratic presidential effort can be summed up by FEC figures. FEC reports by end of September the six Democratic candidates had raised a total of $2.2 million. By same date in 1987, each of the five Dems in race had raised that much; Dukakis had more than $8 million. . . . How’re the candidates doing? Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) proudly announces that Roseanne Barr will campaign for him in Iowa. . . . John Bunzel comments that his fellow Californians are not sure former Gov. Jerry Brown “has solved the re-entry problem.” Some polls show Brown topping the Democratic list. . . . And Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder took a severe hit in Nov. 5 voting as GOP made sweeping gains in both Virginia Senate and General Assembly. Little noticed, that Wilder approval rating had slipped to 30 per cent once he started spending one out of every three days out of state campaigning for Presidency.

■ About those hard-to-read elections, Washington Post columnist William Raspberry may have put his finger on what happened. “Every now and then,” he says, “the voters throw a tantrum and toss out good guy and bad guy indiscriminately. ‘Look at me!’ they shout. ‘Pay some attention to the things I’m interested in, or get out of my life.’ ”. . . Ronald Reagan’s former political director Ed Rollins warns George Bush that there’s a big lesson to be learned from Nov. 5. He thinks GOP could lose White House “unless people start focusing on the issues that matter to people, and that’s the economy, the economy, and the economy.” … In midst of evident political discontent, there’s growing talk of possible challenge to Bush from the Right in presidential primaries. Names most often mentioned are Pat Buchanan and, since his public break (Face the Nation) with official White House policy on tax cuts, HUD Secretary Jack Kemp.