Mike Gardner: Video: CNN's Evans and Novak, Governor Mario Cuomo on Anti-Italian Slurs in 1986

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Before I get into Italian slurs, I’m going to get into why Mario Cuomo never ran for president. Even though chances are had he ran, he probably would’ve won the Democratic nomination for president in 1988 or 1992. A big reason why Governor Cuomo never ran for president, or at least a big rumor why he didn’t run, had to do with his perceived connections with the Italian Mafia in New York. Especially in New York City and perhaps around New York State as well.

And when Cuomo ran for Governor of New York and perhaps reelection as well, those same charges came up and perhaps not just by Anglo-Saxon Republicans. Who perhaps had supporters at least who were less than enthusiastic about Italian-Americans in general. As far as what Governor Cuomo said about one of his opponents and “he made his bones with the Democratic organization in New York”, I don’t know if that is true or not.

But I don’t doubt it because Mario Cuomo dealt with anti-Italian bigotry as an Italian-American throughout his political career and perhaps his whole live even in New York. And New York City which is supposed to be one of the most inclusive and progressive cities in America. But once you move upstate in New York and out of Manhattan in New York, the upstate part of the state resembles Central Pennsylvania culturally at least. And a lot of New York City outside of Queens and Brooklyn looks like Connecticut. Very Anglo, preppy and quite frankly snobby and bigoted.

Howard Hoffman: Video: 1992 DNC, Governor Mario Cuomo Nominates Bill Clinton For President

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I don’t think Bill Clinton could’ve had a better person, at least not a better speaker or a better more intelligent speaker to nominate him for President of the United States than Governor Mario Cuomo in 1992. Other than maybe Bill Clinton himself, because in ten-minutes or less Governor Cuomo crystalized the entire 1992 presidential election and what Democrats were running on and running against. Not that Governor Clinton didn’t, because he certainly did time after time in that election.

But Cuomo was saying “we Democrats also believe in economic freedom and private enterprise. The difference being that Democrats believe in those things for everybody and not just the special few.” That lowering taxes on the rich doesn’t empower everyone else. That for everyone to succeed in America, they all need the skills and opportunities to make that happen for themselves. Especially the struggling middle class and people in poverty.

Governor Cuomo 1984: Video: Governor Mario Cuomo's 1984 Tale of Two Cities

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on WordPress

The Tale of Two Cities, one city looks like a paradise, perhaps like downtown Washington or New York in the summer time. And the other city looking a place that you would only send your worst enemies to. Perhaps North Baltimore, no offense to Baltimore, I love that city, but parts of it are a living hell. Or Compton Los Angeles perhaps would be another example of an urban hell. Or rural America, where as Governor Cuomo said people there still live in shacks and trailer parks, go without indoor plumbing and even air conditioning and heat. Why, because they can’t afford those things, they can’t afford to live in an apartment.

Ronald Reagan’s City on a Shining Hill, sure if you were already doing well before he became President. And there were also unemployed Americans who found good jobs before the 1984 presidential election in time of course to reelect President Reagan. But how about the rest of the country that was still living in poverty. And the millions of Americans who now found themselves homeless in the 1980s or living in prison. Thanks to President Reagan closing down mental institutions and cutting people off public assistance who couldn’t get themselves a good job. And of course the escalation of the War on Drugs in the 1980s.

Governor Cuomo wasn’t playing class warfare in 1984. He was stating some inconvenient facts for the Republican Party and America in general and without him and his big microphone, those facts don’t get heard then. Sure others would’ve stated them, but not as many people would’ve heard them and they wouldn’t have been stated as intelligently and clearly as someone with the intelligence and communications ability of a Mario Cuomo. And as a result wouldn’t have gotten played over and over by the media and others. So this was a great speech and a perfectly timed speech by one of the best speakers ever.