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Search - Diaries of M. Cuomo: The Campaign for Governor

Diaries of M Cuomo The Campaign for Governor
Author: Mario Cuomo

These extraordinary diaries, Mario M. Cuomo's personal, day-by-day account of his campaign for governor of New York, are a unique document. Written most often in the hours just before dawn "as a vehicle for adjusting my own perspective," and not for publication, they reveal more candidly than could any formal memoir not only the inner workings o... more »f a brilliant political campaign but the agonizing ethical and personal conflicts that must confront any man or woman of integrity who seeks to serve the public in the political arena.

From the moment in 1980 when Cuomo, then lieutenant governor, begins to think about his immediate future, we see in these pages a man committed to the use of political power to improve the lives of people, wrestling with his conscience, searching for a way to reconcile his convictions with the demands of public office. We see him, for example, considering the consequences of his opposition to the death penalty: "My position will cost me votes. On the other hand, if leaders do not lead, who will? I can't spend my days editing out the things I believe because the are unpopular." The Democratic party pits him and his "traditional Democratic principles" against the "New Conservatism" of New York City's popular Mayor Edward Koch. At the outset the mayor is far ahead in the polls, but Mario Cuomo, the son of Italian immigrants who "never gave up" refuses to concede the race, and the campaign becomes a cliff-hanging come-from-behind affair, short of money ("heavy hitters" like to "be with the winner"), but always an attempt to focus on the issues ("Can you," the candidate wonders, "beat electricity with light?"). Through it all, readers will find themselves engaged in the struggle as never before in a book about a political campaign, sharing the exhilaration and depression, the thousand and one details that are part of the American political process at the grass roots--until at last on primary night Cuomo's old-fashioned campaign (one in which there is little money for TV) pulls off a victory that "said a lot of beautiful things to people who badly want to hear beautiful things. It said, you can tell the truth, stand up to the power brokers and editorial writers, and still win. It was Rocky, David, the last-minute field goal by the underdogs."

In the general election we see a different kind of campaign, as Mario Cuomo confronts the conservative Republican candidate, Lewis Lehrman, a man who has spent millions of dollars of his own personal fortune to obtain the nomination. In the face of Lehrman's media blitz Cuomo's lead in the polls begins to decline; this time on election night the early news seems bad and there is nothing to do but wait it out. Finally, "in 3 hours and 33 minutes, we went from frustration to relief: imminent failure to victory--a stomach that churns to a good glass of red wine."

Now Mario Cuomo is governor-elect of the State of New York. "How far is it from King's Park and South Jamaica?" he asks on December 27th, 1982. "How far is it from the stickball game in the backyard--in shoes, because sneakers were a luxury reserved for gym class, where they were required?... How far is it? Not so far that we didn't make the trip. But it's hard to believe that we did. I feel something, but I don't understand it yet, the way I am expected to. Maybe later in the week."

Prefaced by the governor's eloquent introduction exploring the roots -- in his family, in his faith, and in the law -- of his most deeply held political beliefs, and including his own explanatory notes and selected speeches (among them the inaugural address on "The Family of New York"), this beautifully written and politically wise book will become a classic of American literature.

ISBN-13: 9780394536958
ISBN-10: 0394536959
Publication Date: 4/12/1984
Pages: 484
Edition: 1st ed
Rating:

Currently 4/5 Stars.

4 stars, based on 1 rating

Publisher: Random House
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Nonfiction >> Politics

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