With more than 1,000 days still left until the 2016 presidential election, most Democrats feel it is already too late for New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make the race.
Party operatives in early presidential states
told Politico that it was by now too late for the New York governor — who rarely leaves his home state — to lay the groundwork for a 2016 bid.
Cuomo did go to Washington, D.C. for the Kennedy Center Honors and for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association over the weekend, but when asked if he wanted to put his visit in the context of the 201 White House race, answered simply, "No, but thanks for asking,"
reported the Buffalo News.
Potential 2016 candidates are already making their moves in states such as New Hampshire, Iowa, Florida and South Carolina that host early primaries and caucuses.
Supporters of Hillary Clinton have created the framework for a campaign organization should she choose to run
and Vice President Joe Biden has been in regular contact with state activists. Among other possible Democratic candidates, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has spoken in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has two working PACs, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has visited South Carolina. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she does not want to run, but progressives in the party have not given up hope.
But Cuomo has even rejected speaking engagements proffered by state party officials.
His followers left open the possibility of a last-minute campaign if Clinton decides not to run.
"No governor of the State of New York has ever ruled out being president!" Nathan Daschle told Politico. The former Democratic Governor's Association executive director maintains that Cuomo "might not be actively running, but I don't buy for a second that he has ruled it out.
"There is no reason to. Coming from such a big state, and with his background, network, and name ID, the timetable is much more forgiving. He has a 6-12 month organizational lead built into the fact that he's Andrew Cuomo. I imagine he's taking his time, watching the field shake out, and doing the smartest and most important thing he can do— focusing on his current job."
Cuomo's father, Mario, a three-term N.Y. governor, who in 1984 achieved national prominence by delivering a spellbinding keynote speech at the Democratic national convention, also opted not to run for president, and watched as Michael Dukakis was defeated by George H. W. Bush in 1988.
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