Dan Frisa
Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2002

Surrounded at a New York City press conference this afternoon by his former boss Bill Clinton and senior N.Y. Congressman Charles Rangel, Cuomo said he was withdrawing rather than spend two million dollars tearing down his opponent, State Comptroller Carl McCall.

With his father, former Governor Mario Cuomo, in attendance as well as his wife, Kerry, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, Cuomo also claimed to have been victim of a campaign with "too many good ideas” that were difficult to communicate.

The campaign has been troubled for months, beginning with his ill-advised comment that N.Y. Governor George Pataki "held the coat” of then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani during the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorists attacks last year. Cuomo brought a torrent of criticism on himself from figures in both parties as well as near unified disdain from the the New York press.

Early signs of trouble first surfaced at last summer’s Democrat state nominating convention when Cuomo dropped out of contention there, many believe to avoid the embarrassment of a poor showing, and instead opted to gain access to the primary ballot by gathering petitions throughout the state. That last minute surprise left many of his supporters in shock at the midtown convention, many of whom traveled hundreds of miles to attend the nominating event.

The younger Cuomo earned a reputation as a bully while serving as an advisor to his father during his tenure as governor. As a politician, many observers considered him a poor imitation of the once renowned liberal New York chief executive, who was defeated for re-election by a then-unkown state legislator, George E. Pataki of Peekskill, N.Y.

E-mail Dan: danfrisa@newsmax.com.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

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