Does this mean he's going to position himself as a relative moderate?
I've always thought that the conventional wisdom that you have to run to the far left was wrong, and very damaging. It was a myth in 2015-16 (Even Jim Webb would gotten a decent 15-20% of the vote as long as he stayed in, IMO) and it's a myth now. Just like it was a myth that only a far-right conservative could win the GOP nomination in 2010-16, even though none ever did. Sure, the "progressive" lane is one lane, but not the only one. It's quite possible that with half a dozen candidates all running to the left one candidate who hews to the center might just take it.
I think it's more important that a candidate not appear corrupt, and looks like he or she is on the side of "the people" than whether they are progressive on everything. And that's the bigger problem for Cuomo (besides his support for gun control and his coastal-blue state origins): his reputation for corruption. What other skeletons does he have in his closet?
These SJW issues like statues are perfect for politicians like him to Sister Soulja off of.
I disagree. I think you can win without being part of the left, but you can't run on a platform of actively insulting them. Not anymore.
Andrew Cuomo has a lot of problems on a lot of fronts, not the least of which being that the national press is all based out of NYC and they hate him for local reasons. (Journalist Twitter usually features extensive anti-Cuomo rants about the NYC subways on a near-daily basis) He will be bashed hard out of the gate.
