Steve Kornacki notes that should he beat Republican challenger Rick Lazio in November, New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo is hoping to become like New Jersey's transformative Governor Chris Christie, but could wind up like New York's vanquished Governor, Eliot Spitzer.
Until the very end, Democrats swore that Corzine was safe and that their boilerplate attacks on the G.O.P. nominee—so successful between 1994 and 2008—would work as usual. It is impossible, therefore, to articulate what a body-blow Christie’s triumph was to the Trenton establishment.
This has been a major source of Christie’s legislative success. His victory shook Democrats, disabused them of their notions of invincibility, and compelled them to regard the new governor’s agenda with a seriousness they never afforded Corzine and his plans.
The ruling Democrats in Albany are just as arrogant as they were in Trenton, but Cuomo’s impending victory—no matter how massive the margin—won’t prompt any comparable soul-searching. The reason is simple: They’ve seen this story before.
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[F]rom the vantage point of most of the Albany establishment, the governor-in-waiting looks and sounds a lot more like an Eliot Spitzer than a Chris Christie.
The only point I'd add here is that unlike Spitzer, if elected Cuomo would have a much better handle on the politics of Albany, which he's employed for decades.