BUFFALO, N.Y. — Friends of Andrew Cuomo, a political action committee for the disgraced former New York Governor, has launched a television ad campaign aimed at restoring Cuomo's tarnished image.
Cuomo, whom an Attorney General's investigation determined to be a serial sexual harasser of women, and who faced several other scandals resigned from office in August 2021.
The ad was scheduled to begin running on Monday in television markets across the state including in Buffalo on WGRZ-TV.
The 30-second ad, entitled Politics vs. The Law, includes a brief still image of Cuomo but does not contain his voice.
It strings together snippets of new coverage when several District Attorneys investigating claims against Cuomo announced they would not be bringing cases against him.
A news release from Rich Azzopardi, a longtime advisor to Cuomo and the Founder & Principal of Bulldog Strategies, claims the ad is to update New Yorkers on the fact that "5 Separate District Attorneys Rejected the Findings of the AG's Bogus Report."
While the ad appears to be aimed at convincing the viewer that Cuomo was completely exonerated, it fails to note that those district attorneys who declined to pursue criminal charges also said that the alleged victims were credible in their accusations, and that their decision was based more in their belief that there was not likely enough proof in order to convince a judge or jury beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred.
Does this mean necessarily that Cuomo is embarking on a political comeback?
2 On Your Side spoke with a few political analysts and strategists to gauge their thoughts about that possibility and the ad itself.
Analysis
"I looked at it in two different directions," said Arnold Rothschild, President of Rochester based Normal Communications, which produces strategy and campaign ads for both republican and democratic candidates throughout the state.
"Lets presume it's the first step of what we call a rehabilitative ad to rehabilitate his image. If that's the case the next step would be to do some polling to determine this first step was effective," said Rothschild. "I think what this ad indicates is that they will be doing some polling to see if they moved the peg before it's determined if he will run for office in the future."
In addition, Rothschild believes that Cuomo would have to speak to the camera at some point as opposed to simply using visuals and clips from news stories.
"If I was involved in the process, I would strongly be encouraging the former Governor to be talking to the camera. There is going to be a point where, if he's going to advance this, that he has to go back to being someone who can use the camera very effectively to talk to voters which was the entire buildup to the way he was seen nationally during Covid."
Of course, Cuomo's star dimmed considerably once it was revealed he and his administration altered reports, concealed the reality of the number of Covid deaths in Nursing homes, engaged in a controversial policy to send patients back to live in nursing homes without allowing those facilities to test them for Covid, and gave priority to family and friends in terms of testing when test kits were in short supply.
On top of that were the allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, as well as a controversial $5 million dollar book deal.
"You have to determine which are the real problems for the former Governor. There's the harassments allegations, the $5.1 million book deal, his personal style...and then measure and see which ones you can take off the table and move from there. He (Cuomo) has a very smart political mind, and I don't think he's going to jump in and run for some office with the intent of losing or without reasonable assurance that he could win."
Rothschild also raised the possibility that the ad is a precursor to filing a complaint against the office of NY Attorney General Laetitia James.
Ken Kruly, who writes extensively about politics on the website PoliticsandStuff.com felt the ad was largely about James, whose report concluding that Cuomo was a serial sexual harasser of women ultimately lead to his resignation and fall from grace.
Kruly, a democrat like Cuomo, also believes it's possible that the former governor - whether he ever seeks office again - may be spending down his campaign war chest in order to boost his reputation while sullying that of his political enemies.
"I think that's a good analysis. That's the Andrew Cuomo we've known for many years and the type of person that would seek revenge and vindication at the same time. I think getting back at someone is a major motivation for what he's doing here," Kruly said.
Regarding the ad, Kruly also noted, "One thing to keep in mind, as you look at the ad, is that one of the things that flashes on the screen is an editorial from the New York Daily News from January with the headline 'An Innocent Man'."
Much like other parts of the ad, though, the context of the rest of the editorial is missing.
"The editorial pointed out that there was credible evidence that he harassed various women, it also makes note of the nursing home issues and the book deal. So there's even something running in the ad that would contradict what he's trying to say," Kruly said.
Regarding the thought that Cuomo may be sowing the seeds for a return to elective office, Kruly remarked, "It's not the kind of ad you would start a campaign with because it's defensive, trying to explain that he was accused of various things but exonerated because DA's around the state dropped it . So it's not the way you would start a political campaign and I think it's more directed as an attack Attorney General James than anything. I think its interesting that a politician no longer in office would run ads for themselves, but not everyone has $16 million in their campaign account."
"From Cuomo's standpoint it's a good ad in that it makes his case in the strongest possible terms," said Carl Calabrese, a republican campaign strategist.
"But we can also say this while knowing that a lot was taken out of context and a lot was excluded. One real question is; will it will it move the needles in the way New Yorkers see him? And we know right now his bar is really low in terms of where he stands with New York voters.
Calabrese noted that the most recent Siena College poll for February reported that 80% of those surveyed believed Cuomo was right to resign, that he was viewed unfavorably by a 2-1 margin among respondents, and that 58% of those polled believe that he did harass women.
"It's not pretty," Calabrese said. "Time will tell if this ad is the first part of a comeback campaign and I'll be watching this poll closely next month to see if this ad moved the needle at all."
As far as who Cuomo might challenge should he try to run for office again, Calabrese believes incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul would be out of the question as would James, who despite some speculation that Cuomo may target her, had a much higher favorability number in the Siena poll.
"A lot of negatives associated with Cuomo are too fresh in the minds of voters and it may take a while for that to dissipate before he seeks statewide office," said Calabrese.
But down the road Calabrese sees a more likely target for a political comeback involving Cuomo in the form of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
"That's four years away and her approval numbers aren't exactly off the charts," said Calabrese. "They are consistently below 50% and that's troublesome for an incumbent. He's got a lot of money that could buy a lot of ads and that could be what he's thinking."