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Mario Cuomo, RIP
Mario Cuomo has died.
Growing up, he'd always seemed a hero to me. He was elected governor when I was nine, and probably the first major statewide figure I can remember. I remember him as a politician able to separate his religious views from his political ones. And the counterpoint to Al D'Amato, who seemed like a ludicrously right-wing politician in my more naive days, before I discovered just how far right some politicians could swing.
His 1984 Democratic Convention speech is the first political speech I recall, and remains one of the great ones, a condemnation of the pure fucking evil that was Ronald Reagan.
He accomplished a hell of a lot as governor, and there are a zillion memorials online listing everything he did, including the blemishes, and he was clearly well past his political prime, but it still feels weird to realize he's gone.
Growing up, he'd always seemed a hero to me. He was elected governor when I was nine, and probably the first major statewide figure I can remember. I remember him as a politician able to separate his religious views from his political ones. And the counterpoint to Al D'Amato, who seemed like a ludicrously right-wing politician in my more naive days, before I discovered just how far right some politicians could swing.
His 1984 Democratic Convention speech is the first political speech I recall, and remains one of the great ones, a condemnation of the pure fucking evil that was Ronald Reagan.
He accomplished a hell of a lot as governor, and there are a zillion memorials online listing everything he did, including the blemishes, and he was clearly well past his political prime, but it still feels weird to realize he's gone.