Much has been written in the press about the establishment and their support for certain candidates.
In “blue” New York state, for example, there is a certain amount of substantiation that the establishment (made up of the official party personnel and government leaders) leans toward Hillary Clinton. That has happened in part because the leader of the establishment politicians is Andrew Cuomo, the governor in charge of the party apparatus.
In fact, there is almost no one who does not believe that Andrew’s eventual goal is to be the President. And while there are many who believe that isn’t going to happen, remember that many thought he couldn’t be governor. He knew that he had no chance of beating Hillary so he decided to take a back seat and wait for his chance. If Hillary loses, watch him the next time.
Now he’s a two-term governor with what looks like good odds to gain a third term. In any case with the likes of Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in Hillary’s camp, there can be little doubt the establishment is with her and not Bernie Sanders. That doesn’t mean the middle left of the party isn’t for Bernie. He has the better message about income inequality and all those traditional and compelling messages that make New York party voters sit up and take notice and make their way to polls.
In the same way Barack Obama convinced Democratic voters that he was the real deal, Bernie is doing that now, and that presents a real threat to all of those who really don’t want to risk rejection by the voters. A lot of politicians must be shivering in their boots. Many have suggested that Bernie can’t win despite polls that show he can. If the Democratic candidate loses, the establishment types often claim, the Republicans will name more judges to the Supreme Court. They suggest Bernie can’t win because he is a self-announced Democratic socialist and that he will be tied to Stalin and the old Soviet types. When I mentioned this recently on the radio, a young person wrote and asked me who Stalin was.
In any case, one of the reasons why Bernie is doing so well in national polls (more so than in New York polls) is that people mistrust the establishment types for all kinds of reasons. Bernie is the anti-establishment guy in the Democratic race and the same thing might be said of Donald Trump on the Republican side. Many of us thought Jeb Bush would certainly be the candidate, considering his political lineage. He raised tremendous amounts of money from the Republican regulars yet that money didn’t really do anything for him. Meanwhile, Donald Trump with his anti-PC message and his foul talk seems to have awakened the middle class Republican voters who appear to have had enough of their establishment leadership.
There is a fierce primary fight shaping up among New York Republicans to take on Andrew Cuomo in the next gubernatorial election. While the establishment types at the head of the party profess no favorites, it sounds to me like they are backing the loser in the last election, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, over popular Congressman Chris Gibson. To figure out who will win you might want to stay tuned to the words of former United States Senator Alfonse D’Amato who has a pretty good record of picking winners and for feathering his own nest. As a top lobbyist, D’Amato is not afraid to endorse Democrats if he thinks the Republicans are on a losing track. After all, D’Amato needs friends in high places to get things done for his clients. As for Republican Chairman Ed Cox, an amiable man and Richard Nixon’s son-in-law, if you listen really carefully, I think you will hear his preference for former loser Astorino. He’d probably deny that but if anyone represents the Republican establishment in New York, he does.
