Andrew Cuomo should be blamed if Zohran Mamdani is elected NYC mayor

Phillip Klein makes some valid points why New York's former governor should be blamed if Muslim mayoral candidate Mamdani is elected, and not Curtis Sliwa:

But if Mamdani wins, the blame should rest with Cuomo.

To start, nothing does more to fuel the rise of somebody proposing radical change from the status quo than a sense that the status quo is broken. No doubt, Mamdani benefited greatly from the fact that Mayor Eric Adams was under federal indictment before being pardoned by President Trump, to whom Adams had cozied up. But he benefited doubly from the fact that when the dust settled, his main challenger ended up being Cuomo.

Cuomo was a failed governor. Not only did his disastrous Covid policies contribute to thousands of nursing home deaths, but then his administration tried to cover up the failure by manipulating the data. And he was forced to resign in disgrace over charges of sexual misconduct. It’s hard to imagine a better avatar for Mamdani’s argument that the existing system is corrupt and broken than Cuomo.

I’m generally reluctant to call anybody a “spoiler” given that elections are ultimately about earning votes. If you’re an older Republican voter who has lived in New York long enough, you probably grew up hating Andrew Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo (New Yorkers of a certain age will remember the late talk-radio host Bob Grant’s salute to “the sfaccim”). Andrew Cuomo in 2014 said that conservatives had no place in the state.

That Cuomo's running in the first place is surely peculiar, given his shoddy record. Again, chances are he did so in order to make Mamdani look better by comparison. And it's entirely valid to say Cuomo will be responsible if, in the end, Mamdani stands elected as mayor.

Since we're on the subject, it's decidedly crucial to note one of the groups in New York that's backing Mamdani:

Turning to political developments in New York City, Block addressed concerns over the potential election of Mamdani as mayor. "The Jewish community in New York is very diverse. Some support Mamdani, including Satmar communities that are anti-Zionist," he said. "But overall, the community is troubled by having a mayor who doesn't support Israel and has spoken out against it."

It was reported previously that the Satmar clan warmly welcomed Mamdani at a meeting, and no doubt, plenty of Satmar will vote for him. As horrible as that is, it will make clear a clan whose customs are as prudish as theirs sees nothing wrong with sharia, no matter how much worse it is. If Mamdani's elected due to the Jewish vote, the Satmar will decidedly also have to be blamed, though obviously, considering how twisted they are, some will argue it's a moot point. In any event, chances are we'll awaken to a very sad scenario in the coming week.