Cuomo watch: Check it out

It almost seems a cliche -- a politician handing out checks.

But there was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, traveling to the Mohawk Valley and Niagara County to hand-deliver checks to flood victims. In separate media events, the governor gave out thousands of dollars in state relief to families whose property damage wasn't covered by federal emergency aid.

The Cuomo administration says it will dole out 1,206 checks in all, worth a total of $13.6 million.

To be sure, it's welcome relief to homeowners who have been waiting two months for financial help.

It also fits Cuomo's summer strategy of barnstorming upstate -- wine tours, fishing tournaments, white-water rafting, to name a few events -- in places where his approval ratings are lowest.

-- Yancey Roy