Rochester City Newspaper
by Mary Anna Towler
October 19, 2010

Governor: Andrew Cuomo

For this traditionally liberal publication, deciding on our endorsements for most federal and top offices has not been hard this year. The easiest decision is in the race for governor of New York. There is simply no contest. Temperamentally, Republican Carl Paladino is not suited for public office.

Paladino's public-relations problems are not gaffes or missteps: they are an indication of how he views African Americans (distributing a gag e-mail with the caption "run niggers run"), women, and gays. And while his angry outbursts may mirror the frustration many of us feel about New York State's government, he has shown no ability to lead and govern. Temperament matters in both, because New York's governor is not king; to get anything done, the governor must win the support of members of the State Senate and Assembly.

This race could have given us a chance to have a deep discussion about the future of the state, about its finances, its broken government, its economic woes. Instead, thanks to the Republicans' nomination of Carl Paladino, it has been a circus. Andrew Cuomo isn't our ideal candidate, but for voters, he is the only rational choice.

We aren't endorsing Cuomo simply because he's the only candidate left standing, however. He is bright, capable, and aggressive. He would be a strong governor when the state absolutely must have one. And maybe there is even reason to hope - past history notwithstanding - that he can convince concerned members of the state legislature to ignore their leadership, work with him, and bring about the government reforms New York desperately needs.

Also on the ballot: Five other candidates are running on third-party lines, most of them frivolous (a self-proclaimed madam running on the Anti-Prohibition line, for instance, and a Brooklyn retiree on the "Rent Is 2 Damn High" line).

But the ballot includes two candidates from serious parties: Libertarian Warren Redlich and the Green Party's Howie Hawkins. Redlich takes traditional Libertarian positions - reduce government spending, reduce the size of government, reform our policy on illegal drugs. Hawkins is strongly liberal, strongly Green; he wants a ban on hydrofracking and opposes the development of more nuclear-power plants.

Third parties could offer the country a lot - but they face almost impossible odds. The political system is so rigged, and the system of financing campaigns is so corrupt, that no one but major-party candidates and the occasional wealthy fringe candidate has a chance to be heard. In a fair political system, serious third-party candidates could campaign adequately - and could be elected, forcing, with their presence, representatives in the major parties to form coalitions, compromise, and get things done.

That this is not possible is one of the most serious stains on America's democracy.