STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see politicians trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic to their own electoral ends.
We’ve seen Democrats and Republicans across the country differ over pandemic measures, with governors and other officials attacking the virus differently.
Some went with strict lockdowns and vaccine/mask mandates. Others were more hands-off. The results varied.
And now the COVID-19 virus is becoming a campaign issue in the New York governor’s race, with some of our biggest Democrats battling it out.
Legitimate disagreements or political posturing? Time will tell.
Attorney General Letitia James was on NY-1′s “Inside City Hall” on Thursday night, calling for a statewide mask mandate to battle the virus.
“We can do better in the state of New York,” James told host Errol Louis. “We should issue a mask mandate. We should roll out census workers to go door to door. Individuals who are living in public transportation deserts, we should have mobile vans.”
Never mind the fact that masks don’t provide guaranteed protection against the spread of the virus. Then again, vaccinations don’t either.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has so far refrained from calling for new mask mandates, even as she has declared a state of emergency in the face of the omicron variant.
James, of course, is running to replace Hochul. So there’s a political angle here as well.
It’s not the first time that James has taken aim at Hochul’s handling of the pandemic.
Last month, James said that state government (that means Hochul) had failed to address the high COVID numbers in some of the more vulnerable areas of the state, including Western New York.
The attorney general also slammed the state over low booster shot rates.
Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-L.I.) also slammed Hochul for the high COVID rates in Western New York, and criticized the governor’s “piecemeal” approach to the pandemic.
Incredibly, Suozzi praised former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s performance during the pandemic, saying that Cuomo had accomplished “a tremendous amount,” despite for former governor’s “flaws” and “problems.”
This is the same Cuomo who hid the true number of COVID deaths in nursing homes while accepting a $5 million contract to write a self-mythologizing book about his own performance during the crisis.
Does that count as a “flaw” or a “problem” in Suozzi’s book?
Disagreeing about policy is one thing. That’s to be expected among pols.
But we have to know that officials are genuine in what they propose when it comes to the pandemic. There can’t be a suspicion that they’re simply saying something to make hay against a political rival or to merely provide a contrast.
Remember, Hochul wasn’t even supposed to be in this spot in the first place.
It was Cuomo’s sudden resignation from office, thanks in large part to James’ scathing report on sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo, that put Lt. Gov. Hochul in the big chair.
But far from being a just-glad-to-be-here, caretaker governor, in the mode of David Paterson (who took over from Gov. Eliot Spitzer amid Spitzer’s hooker scandal), Hochul has eagerly taken the reins with both hands in Albany.
And agree with her approach or not, Hochul has met the COVID crisis head-on. She was also boots-on-the-ground present when Hurricane Ida blew through the state.
Hochul looks comfortable in the top job, and wants to be elected governor in her own right. She’s got a powerful platform as the actual incumbent. She’s a robust fundraiser. She’s picking up endorsements
All of which complicates things for James, Suozzi and city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who’s also in the running.
But, hey, if elected officials have time for political bickering, maybe we really are finally leaving Pandemia after all.
