Just Teasing

New York Governor Mario Cuomo announced last February that he was not running for President, and he insists, time and again, that he has not changed his mind. Yet in the aftermath of Gary Hart's withdrawal from the field of Democratic candidates, Cuomo is registering as much as 32% support in the polls, while the only other Democrat on the horizon is Jesse Jackson. Cuomo has pooh-poohed this, saying the polls will change when the public gets to know the other candidates. Last week, however, Cuomo's words and actions had politicos wondering whether he was following a subtle strategy of running for President by not running.

Last Monday the Governor received an honorary degree at Grinnell College in Iowa, the state where the first presidential caucuses will be held next February. At a press conference afterward, Cuomo told reporters that his candidacy was a "fantasy." "Listen to me," he said. "Don't listen to the polls." Yet the non-candidate was less than categorical: he would not rule out the possibility of entering a primary.

A day later reports surfaced that Vincent Tese, a wealthy Chicago supporter who has become Cuomo's director of economic development, was soliciting money for a Cuomo campaign. Actually, Tese was calling business leaders to meet with Cuomo about the Governor's proposed bipartisan committee to develop policies on such issues as the trade imbalance and Third World debt. Cuomo responded to the reports with jokes and denials. "If I wanted campaign money," he said, "I wouldn't have to send Vincent Tese out; I would go to Vincent Tese."

Democratic Media Consultant Robert Squier notes that Cuomo is conducting the perfect strategy for entering the race later: keeping his options open in the event of a deadlocked convention, or not running but holding on to his power in the party. The other candidates affect unconcern, saying they take Cuomo at his word. But privately they are uneasy. Says Democratic Pollster Harrison Hickman: "What worries the others is that Cuomo is the one guy who can run his own way without following the normal rules. They recognize that he is different from anyone else."

Cuomo, who relishes teasing reporters, may just be having a good time. After he insisted that he was not being "coy or cute," a reporter asked him again about whether he would enter any late primaries. "What do you want me to do," asked Cuomo in mock exasperation, "throw myself on the pyre of anonymity?"