One longtime liberal voice in Albany, former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, takes a severe view of Cuomo's first months. He thinks Cuomo, who says he hasn't shut the door on running for president in 2016, is playing two sides in the political game. On the one hand, says Brodsky, he has proved to be a liberal by leading the drive for a gay marriage law. But Cuomo, says Brodsky, has also appealed to conservatives by his fiscal austerity in the fields of health and education.
Brodsky thinks it could be a prescription for running for president. Says Brodsky: "You could call him a 'conliberal' -- that is, a cross between a conservative and a liberal."
Yet George Arzt, a political consultant who has watched the political scene since the days of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, says: "The governor's accomplishments are impressive. He's had the most auspicious beginning of any governor in my experience." He calls Cuomo a "pragmatist."
When asked Monday whether he was shutting the door on running for president in 2016, Cuomo said simply: "No."
That could provide fuel for pundits and analysts for possibly the next five years. Yet Cuomo will put that subject on hold. As an old pro, he knows he has to concentrate on state business and the national campaign of 2012, lest he turn off voters.
Most likely, he'll he invited to a lot of political dinners around the nation and bide his time until the 2016 season rolls around.
