It's no surprise that Andrew Cuomo has decided it's a good thing to be seen as often as possible with Eliot Spitzer. (Witness this recent ad.)
But some political insiders were taken aback this weekend when Cuomo essentially crashed a Spitzer endorsement event taking place two hours before the former HUD secretary was scheduled to be endorsed by the same person.
According to Cuomo's schedule this weekend, he was supposed to get endorsed by the president of the Dominican Day parade, Nelson Pena, Sunday at noon, on 36th & 6th. Without much fanfare, Cuomo turned up at a breakfast hosted by the city comptroller -- where Eliot Spitzer was scheduled receive Pena's endorsement first.
According to a source there, the event suddenly took on the look and feel of a double endorsement -- a group event for Spitzer and Cuomo.
"At noon, we had plans to endorse Andrew Cuomo," said Assemblyman Adrian Espaillat, one member of the Dominican American Coalition for Cuomo.
Cuomo's spokeswoman, Wendy Katz, emailed to point out that the noon endorsement took pretty much right on time. It didn't happen until "the second before" everyone gathered at the head of the parade at noon, she said.
If anyone has more details from the breakfast, please send them along.
-- Azi Paybarah
UPDATE: We should probably also mention that Cuomo just officially got an endorsement from the AFL-CIO. Or more precisely, as the Cuomo campaign's release points out, the endorsement was for "CLINTON, SPITZER, CUOMO AND HEVESI."
Full document after the jump.
We've just heard from Ken Diamondstone that Marty Connor will appeal the Supreme Court decision to allow Diamondstone to appear on the ballot in their race for State Senate, and that they will appear at the Brooklyn Appellate Courthouse tomorrow.
Diamondstone contends that Connor is attempting to further tie up his campaign resources with the challenge, which could run through August 23, and believes that Connor doesn't want to talk about the issues facing the district, calling him "mostly absent." And he said that the whole effort to elimiate him from the race was actually about...
Clarence Norman.
Read on for more comments from Diamondstone after the jump. And let us know what you think.
August 14 01:21 PM
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Andrew Cuomo wants kids to smoke! That was basically the message coming out of Mark Green's "Comparison Countdown #19" press conference this morning in his campaign headquarters.
Green, standing in front of a "Kick Butts Day" cartoon drawn by Gary Trudeau in his mostly empty campaign headquarters, he accused Cuomo of facilitating underage smoking during his time as HUD secretary by directing tax dollars toward the construction of smoke shops on Indian reservations.
"I am of course pleased that President Clinton acknowledged my leadership on the issue of Kick butts Day," Green said. "Allow me to contrast that. While I was in New York fighting tobacco sales to children, Andrew Cuomo was in Washington DC subsidizing tobacco sales on Indian Reservations." He went on to point out that children often have access to these smoke shops.
Today's event coincides with Green's latest ad, which features a woman talking about Cuomo and the smoke shops and ending on the slogan, "Mark Green for Attorney General -- Case Closed."
Not clear how many kids are leaving the 7-11 parking lot for Poospatuck, or how much traction these daily-ish, pre-scheduled attacks on Cuomo are going to get. But, apparently, Green's got 18 more of them.
--Jason Horowitz
August 14 12:30 PM
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photo credit: Jeff Pulver, Bon Jovi fan
Here is an email I got from a talented artist-turned-political-operative:
"Hey, Azi, I nominate the following for Coolest Political Fundraiser. If not, then at least Coolest Political Fundraiser Invite."
In that spirit, check out these pictures on The Jeff Pulver blog (via JustHillary) of the exclusive Hillary Clinton's fundraising event in East Hampton this weekend. Jeff's coverage has a heavy focus on the entertainment -- Jon Bon Jovi, who performed live at the event.
And in the invite category, here's an aesthetically pleasing specimen that our artist friend wanted to nominate: an event for John Sabini's re-election campaign in the 13th Senate district. After the jump.
-- Azi Paybarah
August 14 11:00 AM
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The attorney general race seems to be growing more comparative every day.
Andrew Cuomo reported over the weekend that he had raised more than $500,000 over the 30-day filing period that ended Friday, and that he now has $6 million on hand. And in case it was lost on anyone, the accompanying release noted prominently that the sum was "five time the size of the Green account."
Mark Green, who seems to be more concerned about his front-running opponent than his campaign war chest, will attempt to focus the public's attention on Cuomo's HUD record at a press conference in his Graybar Building headquarters. He'll also be releasing his third commercial.
And Newsday's Spin Cycle blog has attempted to capture the spirit of the whole thing by asking which of the following represents the "most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player."
1. Mark Green, attorney general candidate, launching a "comparison campaign" with rival Andrew Cuomo.
2. Cuomo touting his record as U.S. Housing secretary despite instances of fraud and mismanagement in his agency's 203(k) Home Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program.
3. Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, having his office issue a press release headlined: "BP MARKOWITZ HAILS BROOKLYN DEBUT OF WORLD'S SMELLIEST FLOWER."
-- Josh Benson
August 14 09:42 AM
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The Daily News reports that Howard Dean said yesterday that Joe Lieberman should drop his independent bid.
Ben Smith covers primary night in Meriden, Connecticut, hangs out with bloggers; and reports that Carl Andrews used taxpayer funds to send out a series of mailings.
In case you missed it, the Sun reports on Washington Post Op-Ed team Mike Bloomberg and Jeb Bush.
-- Nicole Brydson
August 14 08:35 AM
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We could have posted a picture of some politician in a sash at the parade, but this seemed like more fun.
on the 1 train
-- Azi Paybarah
August 14 07:28 AM
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