New York State Progressives and Upstater's don't like Cuomo's pick for Attorney General…..What to do?

First It was Kirsten Gillibrand that the they decided they DID like…

After her transformation from a ‘Blue Dog” Democrat from Upstate New York..to the New York City Liberal????

Second It was Harold Ford, Jr. That they didn’t like…

They now have decided the Kathleen Rice the DA  from Nassau County…..

Isn’t good enough for them……

Here we go folks…….

A few weeks ago Rice and Eric Dinallo, a former New York State Insurance Supernatent came out 1 and 2 in a straw poll…

Dinallo being first….

The Dog mentioned that this WAS significant..because Rice came out second…..The first piece I did on this race had 4 people in the running on the Democratic side….

They are really down to two……

In the days after the straw poll upstate….It has become clear that Cuomo is heavily involved in Rice’s campaign…..

Below I have posted up a piece on how the New York State Democratic party ( The Upstater’s and Progressives) is dealing with Cuomo…..who at this moment is now the leader of the state’s democratic party…..

Those members, while thinking of backing Dinallo..must deal with the fact that to do so..

Could risk the ire of a new Governor riding a strong vote margin…

Why would the newly minted leader of the NY Democrats, a guy who is already pretty much expected to win by at least a two thirds majority, interfere in the party process to pick a former Republican to run for his old job? Particularly one who treated her former gig as Nassau County DA as a chance for political grandstanding, pontificating about drunk drivers and sex offenders, which I’m sure are the most pressing sorts of crimes in the second richest county in America.

Short answer? Rice is apparently counting on Cuomo’s coattails to get her into office. Cuomo reportedly favors her, and the convention delegates are afraid to cross him over the issue. Moreover, if you look into the records, Cuomo has been fundraising for Rice since October of 2009, which may help to account for the couple million dollars in cash which vaulted her into the top tier candidates past people like Eric Schneiderman. That leaves you with an AG who completely owes their job to the new Governor, which is not the way that elections are supposed to work.

The “why” of the thing doesn’t really matter at that point. What does matter is that with half the state’s county chairs already backing Dinallo, and Rice having fallen flat with both the public and the party faithful outside of the New York City area, a convention that crowns Rice with the nomination is going to meet with a great deal of skepticism–skepticism at best–from the Democratic base if the process isn’t unquestionably fair and impartial. A secret ballot would be a good start on that; so would guaranteeing the state committee members from NYC the right to vote as they choose, rather than as the party machine dictates.

Last but not least, speaking from my own perspective. Having a handful of people from downstate select the next AG candidate through internal arm-twisting–including running roughshod over the only candidate to make a serious appeal to rural New Yorkers in, well ever–is an absolute disaster for those of us still trying to build the party out here in the red parts of the state, since it confirms all the worst cliches about state government being run solely of by and for New York City.

I know, Andrew Cuomo doesn’t need to care about that–he’s still going to win by ten or twenty points even if he never sets foot on a farm or a state park……

More……..

Note…My moneys on Rice…..

Remember…There are more poeple  in NYC and the surrounding subaurbs (68.4%) than upstate…..