did Mario Cuomo not run for president in 1988 or 1992 because mob connections?

[© tweed]

did Mario Cuomo not run for president in 1988 or 1992 because his mafia connections would have been outed?

[Keystone Phil]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

[Zioneer]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

Yeah, seriously. There's no proof whatsoever that Mario Cuomo had mob connections. It's more likely that he thought that HW Bush was unbeatable both times, and that Dukakis's defeat meant that people didn't want a liberal northeasterner like himself.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

And wrong board.

[Comrade Funk]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

Yeah, seriously. There's no proof whatsoever that Mario Cuomo had mob connections. It's more likely that he thought that HW Bush was unbeatable both times, and that Dukakis's defeat meant that people didn't want a liberal northeasterner like himself.

Was HW really that "unbeatable" in '88? I think Cuomo could've won.

Also, is this really being asked?

[Lief 🗽]

Probably. You know those Eyetalians.

[justfollowingtheelections]

wtf

[Paul Kemp]

Let's not try and act that these rumors haven't been around for over two decades.

[Zioneer]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

Yeah, seriously. There's no proof whatsoever that Mario Cuomo had mob connections. It's more likely that he thought that HW Bush was unbeatable both times, and that Dukakis's defeat meant that people didn't want a liberal northeasterner like himself.

Was HW really that "unbeatable" in '88? I think Cuomo could've won.

Also, is this really being asked?

Maybe not, but what's important is that Cuomo might have thought so.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

Yeah, seriously. There's no proof whatsoever that Mario Cuomo had mob connections. It's more likely that he thought that HW Bush was unbeatable both times, and that Dukakis's defeat meant that people didn't want a liberal northeasterner like himself.

Was HW really that "unbeatable" in '88? I think Cuomo could've won.

Also, is this really being asked?

Nah, Bush wasn't considered a shoe-in -- quite the opposite. A number of questions were being raised about his participation in Iran-Contra.

That, and Bush's relatively unknown public profile, proved a drag on his numbers. Dukakis was up by 17 points over Bush in two separate polls immediately after the DNC. It wasn't until September that Bush was able to start showing a lead in polls -- one that, by November, had grown pretty dominant on a state-by-state basis.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

But in 1992, yeah, Bush was considered invincible right at the exact moment that Democrats began declaring for the Presidency. Not a lot of Democrats wanted to roll the dice on a likely loss -- at least no Democrat with a lot to lose, like Cuomo.

[Badger]

Shockingly blatant Italo-phobia on display here.

Now, now Phil. I really don't think Tweed's post is ant-Italian so much as really really stupid.

Hope I've started the healing process.

[Eraserhead]

I admire the elder Cuomo in a lot of ways (the son is awful). I would be pretty surprised if he didn't have at least some connections to the mafia.

[Zioneer]

I admire the elder Cuomo in a lot of ways (the son is awful). I would be pretty surprised if he didn't have at least some connections to the mafia.

But why would he, is the question. Besides stereotypes, where's the evidence to him being involved with the mafia in any way?

[Napoleon]

I admire the elder Cuomo in a lot of ways (the son is awful). I would be pretty surprised if he didn't have at least some connections to the mafia.

But why would he, is the question. Besides stereotypes, where's the evidence to him being involved with the mafia in any way?

Being Governor of New York isn't evidence?

[© tweed]

I admire the elder Cuomo in a lot of ways (the son is awful). I would be pretty surprised if he didn't have at least some connections to the mafia.

But why would he, is the question. Besides stereotypes, where's the evidence to him being involved with the mafia in any way?

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_498694/cuomo-mafia-rumors-misleading-false.html

[Zioneer]

I admire the elder Cuomo in a lot of ways (the son is awful). I would be pretty surprised if he didn't have at least some connections to the mafia.

But why would he, is the question. Besides stereotypes, where's the evidence to him being involved with the mafia in any way?

Being Governor of New York isn't evidence?

Why would it be? I mean, being Governor of California doesn't mean you're beholden to the Bloods and the Crips, after all. Just because some New York politicians were involved with the Mafia doesn't mean all of them have to be. And hadn't the Mafia kinda declined by the 70s-80s?

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_498694/cuomo-mafia-rumors-misleading-false.html

Ah, thanks; that's just what I thought. Cuomo may not have been perfect, but he most certainly wasn't a Mafia stooge.