Why Do Liberals Fall In Love Too Easily?
Their hearts should be well schooled.
Andrew Cuomo is a documented sex pest running for New York City mayor on a Donald Trump-cosplay platform of fear and bigotry, but for a worrisome period in 2020, the former New York governor was considered the next big thing.
The New York Post ran a piece in March 2021 about how New York women were “coronavirus crushing” on Cuomo. This wasn’t treated as a possible negative side effect of the disease, like how some people permanently lost their sense of smell. No, the women interviewed freely admitted that they found Cuomo attractive, which perhaps was a sign of brain damage that should have been explored further. (Losing your sense of smell seems like a better deal.)
The following is still on the internet where people can see:
Talia Reese, a married mom of two in Great Neck, Long Island, thinks Cuomo sounds like Al Pacino. The comic said she and her friends text one another when he’s on TV, with one declaring, “Cuomo press conference right now. Morning fix.”
“It’s like all these women are back in high school. We’re all in our pajamas, eating ice cream in bed, and he’s in a sharp suit, looking clean,” the 40-something Reese said of the third-term Democrat’s televised briefings.
And the single ladies note that Cuomo, 62, split from his girlfriend of 14 years, author and TV chef Sandra Lee, in September.
“Is Governor Cuomo single? Not asking for a friend,” [45-year-old Denise] Albert wrote on Facebook.
I can’t recall many articles about men of any age fawning over Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett, and unlike Cuomo, they don’t resemble an Al Hirschfeld caricature come to life. Cuomo was divorced and single at 62 but that was spun as good news for crushing ladies.
Former CNN host Chris Cuomo frequently interviewed his older brother, which was not particularly ethical, but the media ate it up. The Oprah Magazine wrote in April 2020, The Cuomo Brothers' Latest Comedic Exchange Involved a New Nickname: “Love Gov.”
“I’ve seen you referred to a little bit recently as the Love Gov and I'm wondering if that's bleeding into your demeanor at all and making you a little soft on the President,” CNN anchor Chris Cuomo asked …
“I’ve always been a soft guy," Governor Cuomo responded, smiling. "I am the Love Gov. I'm a cool dude in a loose mood. You know that. I just say let it go. Just go with the flow baby.”
During another Chico and Zeppo exchange, Cuomo told his brother that he wasn’t considering a presidential run. CNN’s Chris Cillizza thought this was “short-sighted.”
Cillizza wrote, “But the reality – and trust me, someone who has been in and around politics for as long as Andrew Cuomo knows this – is that a) he is getting extremely high marks not just in New York but nationally for his take-the-bull-by-the-horns approach to the crisis and b) the fight against coronavirus will be the defining moment in not only his governorship but his political career to date.”
In late March 2020, Cuomo had assigned state-employed writers to start drafting a book about his awesome pandemic response. We were just weeks into the pandemic. New Yorkers were dying in horrific numbers, but Cuomo was already looking to cash in with a work of personal self-aggrandizement.
Investigations would later reveal that the Cuomo administration undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by almost 50 percent, which probably would’ve defined his political career if the self-proclaimed “love gov” was not exposed as a relentless sex pest.
He was bad news all around, and by August 2021, he’d resigned in disgrace. Now, he won’t stay away, like the unhinged stalker in a Lifetime movie.
However, Democrats are still willing to fall in love too fast and with the worst guy. After John Fetterman won the 2022 Democratic Senate primary, Joan C. Williams at Politico said Fetterman offered a “new model of blue collar masculinity” that shows how Democrats can appeal to working class white voters while not sacrificing their values or alienating people of color. Fetterman wears hoodies but he’s not nor has he ever been “blue collar.” Hell, I wear hoodies, but I’m more Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who.
In a November 2022 “Weekend Update” segment on Saturday Night Live, Sarah Sherman swooned over Fetterman, who is married with children. Still, Sherman wanted her some Lurch. She said, “In Pennsylvania news, senator elect and big, gorgeous monster John Fetterman has received criticism for his casual dress. And I agree. Those cargo shorts and hoodies don’t belong on the Senate floor. They belong crumpled up on my bedroom floor. Hachi machi! Thanksgiving must’ve come early this year because that hunk is giving the turkey wattle between my legs something to be thankful for.”
Not long after Williams’ Politico piece, Fetterman had sacrificed most of his supposed liberal values. He’d gone from trolling Trump online to supporting his worst foreign policy positions. Now, polls show Fetterman with 24 percent approval among Democrats. He’s at risk of losing a 2028 primary rematch to Conor Lamb, who wears collared shirts and respects his constituents.
In fairness, it’s more likely that a liberal fave of the month will turn out secretly terrible than a MAGA darling will turn out secretly decent. If you’re so twisted that Kristi Noem’s puppy killing turns you on, you probably don’t have to worry about discovering that she spends her weekends delivering hot meals to elderly shut ins.
Many Democrats were attracted to Cuomo and Fetterman, who presented as “tough guys” who’d take the fight to Trump, but that was all an act. Cuomo is just a gross bully, and Fetterman is a shiftless opportunist. They’d both rather cozy up to Trump than fight on behalf of his victims.
The true “tough guys” are more than just bluster and a hoodie. Democrats just need to look past the flash and find the politicians with substance.
You didn't mention him, but as I read your article (excellent as always), I thought of Gavin Newsom. He's been trolling trump like crazy on Twitter, and I love that, and he does seem determined to negate the Texas gerrymander. Those are good things, but he does have that podcast, and has cozied up to the maga guests that he's had on the show. Because of the former, it seems that many Dems are falling in love again, while forgetting the latter. Is this a warning?
The answer may be to not fall in love, but like pols when they do the right thing, and call them out when they don't.
The cycle seems to repeat right now with Newsome and Buttigieg. Fawning over them saying something against the orange one but then conveniently ignoring both of them throwing trans and other marginalized people under the bus.