A primary game plan

Daily Point

Dems' storm for '22 makes landfall on LI

Next year’s primaries are off to a start on Long Island.

There are many local facets to the reaction surrounding State Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs’ palpably early endorsement of Gov. Kathy Hochul for the nomination next June.

Jacobs stressed the words "pragmatic" and "moderate" in hailing her candidacy to winning the top job on her own right. In a Garden City news conference, he disputed the idea that she was "close" to her pushed-out predecessor, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, but indicated she represented a continuation of his best policies and projects.

Because Jacobs is also the Nassau County party chairman, those words are his comfort zone. Standing for the empowerment of socialists, leftists, extreme progressives, or New York City bosses pursuing their parochial interests would not, in Jacobs’ view, be good for his local candidates, who often must face actual Republicans at the polls. The same goes for Suffolk Democratic chairman Rich Schaffer, who endorsed Hochul on Monday.

That’s where the potential candidacy of Attorney General Tish James comes in. For the LI chairs’ vision of party unity, Hochul’s supporters want James and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli of Great Neck to seek reelection on the same ticket. The events of Monday seemed orchestrated to discourage a challenge by James, who has yet to state her plans for next year but is known to be quite interested in making the run.

"A party torn apart by multiple candidates in multiple primaries for multiple offices will exhaust precious resources, divide us, and make us weaker when we need to be at our strongest," Jacobs said, clearly with James and "exploratory" candidate Jumaane Williams, both of New York City, clearly in mind. By contrast, others reputedly interested such as Rep. Tom Suozzi, a longtime Jacobs ally, and Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone, a longtime Schaffer enemy, don’t appear anywhere close to preparing an announcement.

Hochul just happened to drop in on an event in Brownsville, Brooklyn, in the morning, which is generally on the political turf of James, who was on Long Island "officially" touting opioid funding from the state.

Cuomo, who got a prior heads-up from Jacobs about this announcement, just happened to issue an open letter just around the same time with oblique warnings to those in the party who essentially pressured him out of the governor’s seat.

"I fear the state is in a dangerous moment. We are seeing extremists and political expediency rule the day and ‘the tail is wagging the dog’ in the Democratic Party," he wrote, claiming he could have beaten back impeachment if he hadn’t quit.

Cuomo’s camp has been accusing James of trashing him out of self-interest, so she could run, even though he greeted her as part of the party ticket he headed in 2018 and made the request that she appoint an independent counsel to investigate accusations of sexual harassment against him. Cuomo supporters have even tried to characterize his resignation as a ‘coup.’

There are rumors of his "exploring" a comeback run which may be a way of trying to stay relevant after the fact and calling attention to the big political fund he amassed at the height of his power.

Whatever the game plans of the players, primary party strains are spreading.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Talking Point

Political book corner

The Point has been deep in the pages of new books by politically minded TV denizens Keith Boykin and Jesse Watters, both of whom are interviewed for the Newsday Live author series.

Boykin, a CNN political commentator, recently discussed his book "Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America." Part memoir, part political analysis, the book includes evaluations of the presidential hopefuls and winners Boykin observed or worked for, including Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton.

Watters, a Fox host and former producer and correspondent for "The O’Reilly Factor," also tells stories from his own life in "How I Saved the World," including the way he developed his brand of "ambush" interviews and how often his camera crews end up missing the key shots. The book includes a fairly concise description of the subject matter and philosophy that has made Watters and his Fox shows enormously watched and argued over: "There was a culture war raging, and I was a war reporter covering the action," he writes.

Both interviews are available at newsdaylive.com.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Pencil Point

Dems play 'the price'

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Puzzle Point

In the news – the answers

Here are the answers to Friday’s news quiz, based on events that took place last week. The first letter of each answer, taken in order, spells the name of a Texas congressman who said that businesses should "openly rebel" against vaccine mandates.

COSTCO: Big-box store chain that is rationing toilet paper again.

HINCKLEY: Last name of the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan whom a judge said could be freed from his remaining restrictions next year.

ICELAND: Country that appeared to elect Europe’s first female-majority parliament before a recount left women with 48% of the seats.

PANIC BUTTONS: Nurses and other staff at Cox Medical Center in Branson, Missouri, will wear these on their identification badges so they can immediately summon security personnel in dangerous situations, after assaults on workers tripled during the pandemic.

R. KELLY: R&B singer who was found guilty in a Brooklyn court on all nine charges of sexual trafficking and racketeering.

OWEN WILSON: Actor who will host the first show of Saturday Night Live’s 47th season on Saturday.

YOUTUBE: Social media site that is banning prominent anti-vaccine advocates and will take down any videos containing vaccine misinformation.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie

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