Everyone remembers former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo's famed speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention. Even me (and I was 5).  In it he said:  "President Reagan told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. `Government can't do everything,' we were told, so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make the rich richer, and what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class."

The speech could have just as easily been delivered in 2007 as 1984. So as the country plunges into another Presidential election cycle, Governor Cuomo, a practitioner and one of the left's most eloquent voices, once again asks to candidates to step back and examine their governing philosophy and the challenges the country faces, arguing that pat answers and rhetoric are insufficient to address them.

The New York Times' Pat Healy recently reported that Gov. Cuomo has been working on a series of essays exploring the "Great Issues" facing America and imploring those who would be President to address them "in a way that measures more than glibness, memory and theatricality." We are excited and honored that the Drum Major Institute is hosting Gov. Cuomo to share these thoughts on the DMIBlog this week. He will respond to comments on our blog as well.
From Monday "Campaign in poetry, govern in prose"

The proliferation of candidates, the reluctance of leaders in the polls to engage in meaningful probing debate and the extraordinarily early primary season, threaten to give us another primary campaign of sound bites, elusive responses and negativism with dominant roles being played by polls, the power of money and the unpredictability of situation-altering incidents and co-incidents.

Apparently most of the candidates avoid some of the most vital issues because they are afraid of making a mistake, or advocating a position they believe is correct and important but that might prove problematic politically, like coming out against illegal guns the way Mayor Bloomberg of New York has, or describing precisely how they would cut spending and raise badly needed resources. Instead they take comfort in dealing with the safest political positions and uttering broad and benign generalities about the more controversial questions, leaving them to be dealt with after they win. But if the electorate is not informed as to the proposed solutions before they vote, a victory at the polls will not assure that the winners will be able to do what needs to be done, because the victory will not constitute a mandate to the Congress that could provide the leverage to persuade them to adopt solutions that had been presumably approved by the voters.

From Tuesday "Values that unite and divide us"

With Bush II we have seen the return of Supply Side and an economy that is good for investors and the already wealthy but punishing to workers with moderate or low skills. The nation's sense of community has withered during the last six years. In addition to having been fragmented economically, we have been split by a clash of religious values caused in part by a conservative political constituency's attempt to convert God into a Celestial Party Chairman. That is not what the founding fathers had in mind as the role of religion. The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a state religion or impeding the free exercise of religion whether it be theistic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, or non-theistic religions like Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Confucianism or Ethical Humanism. In effect, the First Amendment protects my right to be a Christian by protecting your right to be a Jew, Muslim, atheist or agnostic.  

Today's post "Where We are Today" is online here.

Join us on the DMIBlog this entire week (Monday through Sunday) as Governor Cuomo shares his insight on foreign policy, taxes, strengthening the economy and other challenges that those aspiring for the Presidency must address during their campaigns and once elected. Check every morning at www.DMIBlog.com.
P.S. For a great, recent speech by Governor Cuomo, check out this youtube video of his keynote on economic mobility and the middle class dream at DMI's Middle Class NYC conference in April, 2007.

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