Friday, January 02, 2015

Rest in peace, Mario Cuomo

WSJ: "Mario Cuomo: Direct, unapologetic liberal."

I grew up in northern New Jersey when Cuomo was governor of New York and, although I disagreed with him, there was no doubt he was an intelligent advocate.  One night I heard him on a radio show and a caller asked why he didn't "bow to the will of the people" and allow the death penalty in New York.  Cuomo gave a lucid and reasoned answer about how the populace votes for leaders to use their judgement and they are not merely a rubber-stamp.

That's why I think it's an inapt comparison to call Cuomo "The Elizabeth Warren of the 1980s."  Cuomo was a smart man whlie Warren is a dimwit who regurgitates populist buzzwords while making zero progress to actually fix anything.

Extra - A different view from Maggie's Farm.

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