Gov. Cuomo progressive when it suits him..

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

Reading the rehash in The New York Times on how the gay marriage bill passed gave me pause - especially after reading some commentary re Queens/New York politics and the choosing of a Democratic candidate for the Special Election on September 13th to replace Anthony Weiner.

Looked like Cuomo was part of the good ol' boy network on that score. But on the gay marriage legislation he was the paragon of progressive politics: "'They [budgets and the like] are operational,' he told his father. Passing same-sex marriage, by contrast, 'is at the heart of leadership and progressive government. I have to do this.'" (NYTimes 6-26-11)

Much mention was made of gay sons, nephews and others who made the issue personal for some of the lawmakers who changed their minds and voted for the bill. Andrew Cuomo jumped through a myriad of hoops to make that legislation a reality, including an impassioned speech about equality to the GOP Senate delegation at his residence. As he well should have!

But does equality end there? Are there different standards/priorities for women - who make up the majority of the population, but might not write such large checks for political campaigns?

Fast forward to the shenanigans that led to choosing David Welprin as the Democrat candidate for the NY09 Congressional seat - pretty much a slam dunk election in that district for Democrats. Liz Holztman and Melinda Katz were two very solid possibilities, but David Welprin and his pals won out.

Yeah, you may be thinking that I don't know enough about Queens politics (even though I did live in NYC for about a dozen years). And I do know that this seat may not survive redistricting. But at some point principle and doing what's right should over-ride politics as usual. Just like the issue of same-sex marriage. Governor Cuomo could have taken a stand to send one more woman to Washington.

Doesn't he know that women hold a measly 16.6% of seats in the U.S. Congress -- that we are simply grossly under-represented and need to fight for every "open seat?"

The Democrats (according to stated policy viz equal rights for women) should be first in line to help. But they artfully ignore the issue of equal representation when push comes to self-preserving shove -- even those who have daughters that they dote upon.

Andrew Cuomo has three openly-female daughters, who were very active in his campaign for governor. Don't they count?

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