The advantages of incumbency and optics that favor Cuomo

By joining in a state university trustees meeting Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo abided by the conventional incumbent practice of pushing selected official actions into the limelight as an election nears.

The 40-minute gathering's serious agenda -- grappling with sexual assault on campus -- drew desired attention.

At Cuomo's urging the trustees, meeting in Manhattan, resolved to establish uniform sexual-abuse policies for all 64 SUNY schools. He said New York should "once again point the way" on fighting an epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses nationally.

Trustee chairman Carl McCall, a Cuomo appointee, delivered an effusive welcome, noting it was the first time in memory a governor attended a trustee meeting.

Cuomo replied: "You look at the progress that SUNY has made over the past few years, and it is a dramatic and dynamically different institution than it was just a few years ago."

Then Cuomo's presence inspired more ritual exchanges of thanks among participants for one another's leadership. This "thank-you-for-your-leadership" stuff has become as habitual as handshakes in all levels of public board meetings.

Surely the topic itself creates difficult tensions: Rights of the accused versus victims' rights; autonomy of the university versus law enforcement's role, and questions of the moral and emotional maturity of students.

This session was not going to produce a parsing of those issues.

The optics of the event, though, were just fine for a governor who faces voters in a month.

To Cuomo's right sat McCall, who in 2002 became the state's first African-American major-party nominee for governor after Cuomo withdrew from a Democratic primary.

To Cuomo's left sat well-known author and lawyer Linda Fairstein, who noted she first met the governor in the 1980s when both worked for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Fairstein was appointed as special adviser to evaluate this effort on sexual abuse, which she praised as "the right steps" to respond.

For political messaging purposes, Thursday's SUNY resolution blends with Cuomo's declared "women's equality" agenda -- and his establishment of a November party line by that name on which he and Kathy Hochul, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, also are running.

Cuomo mentioned he has three daughters -- and that all but one of his parents' 14 grandchildren are female.

Trustee Richard Socarides thanked Cuomo on a personal level.

"I as an LGBT New Yorker, perhaps more than some others, have been directly affected by your willingness to stand up for people who really need someone to stand up for them," Socarides said.

Those kinds of kudos won't hurt the governor at the polls in Manhattan.

Of his high-profile appearance at the SUNY meeting, Cuomo told the board: "I know it's unique, but I think this situation deserved it and mandated it, and I thank you for the courtesy."

Not that other politicians shy away from a chance to show serious action during the run-up to an election. This week, state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman called a news conference to announce criminal charges against Assemb. William Scarborough (D-Queens), who allegedly cheated on state voucher reimbursements and used campaign funds for personal purposes.

In October, as surely as leaves fall, incumbents work the levers of incumbency.