As the frontman in New York on issues near and dear to liberals and progressives everywhere, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is positioning himself as a possible viable next-gen contender for president in 2020, The New York Times reports.
Cuomo's work on minimum wage, same-sex marriage, gun control, free college tuition are all hallmarks of a progressive presidential platform, and at 59-years-old, the governor could provide Democrats with a younger, fresh alternative to re-runs of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden.
Plus, he has the great surname. His father, Mario, who died on New Years day in 2015, was a three-term governor of the Empire State starting in 1983, but never chose to run for president.
"Ironically, that's what makes him so fascinating," Michael Shnayerson, the author of a biography on Cuomo, told the Times. "He's so unlike the rest of the field. And there are moments, still, when he pounds the progressive pulpit, that you hear his father's voice, and the goose bumps come, and you think, 'Maybe so.'"
But one Sanders supporter said not so fast on this Cuomo.
"Just because you embrace some of Bernie's progressive agenda doesn't mean you can carry Bernie's mantle," Ben Tulchin, a pollster for Sanders during the senator's 2016 campaign told the Times.
Further, Cuomo would need to find a voice to boost his popularity — even in his own state.
A poll last month showed New Yorkers were bullish when it came to Cuomo taking on president-elect Trump, but 56 percent said he shouldn't run for president.
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