London in New York

I like Andrew Cuomo. I like the Cuomo family. Andrew Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo is one of my political heroes. On a personal level, I also like Governor David Paterson, had the opportunity to cover him at charitable events as well as attend his birthday party this year in terms of full disclosure. And while I am not a fan of the circumstances which led to Paterson becoming Governor of New York and believe that he as a case to make to New Yorkers in order to get elected in 2010, I do not believe that sandbagging a sitting Governor in a social blog for his attendance at a major charity event is necessarily in good taste or proper form. Surely Democrats are divided in whom they would support in a contest between New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and David Paterson if that contest even comes to fruition. Cuomo remains a formidable figure and there has been a consistent buzz in society circles of late about whether Governor Paterson has shown that he has the Executive skills necessary for the job. You combine that with the current state of our economy and it is obvious why Paterson is vulnerable with low approval ratings.

Last week GuestofaGuest.com, a leading New York/Hamptons social blog tastefully covered a fundraiser for Andrew Cuomo, the NY AG, who has not made his intentions 100% clear about whether he is running for re-election as AG or gearing up for the Governor’s race in the event that Patterson stumbles, his poll numbers erode further and/or he withdraws.

This past weekend GuestofaGuest.com attended and covered one of the biggest parties in the Hamptons, the annual summer fundraiser for The Parrish Art Museum and singled it out and as an elitist event (unlike any others out in the Hamptons?) and Governor Paterson as a bad Governor for attending. The event was headlined as follows: Southampton’s “After Ten” Party Draws A Ritzy Crowd, David Patterson Remains A Horrible Governor.

As a close friend said to me:

“I think it’s the economy. No matter what any elected official does, unless you can pay like Bloomberg to run your ads…frequently… the negative sentiment is going to be hard to break because people are either out of work, stuck in traffic (which is miserable) or unsure about their job. So my gut says that the conditions of the economy subconsciously pour through these bloggers/reporters. In a sense, its almost fashionable to be negative, especially because the economy has not made a huge pivot. This is historically (and empirically) proven by the media coverage during the Great Depression.”

The timing of this is all rather interesting and perhaps it is all coincidental. While I happen to like both politico’s one wonders if the focus of charitable event coverage should be to sandbag New York’s sitting Governor for making a charitable fundraiser a bit more glamorous by his attendance. In these challenging times, the presence of business and community leaders assists in fundraising and bringing out higher net worth donors. When you cover charity events you check your politics at the door. While I am certainly no Emily Post, it would seem to me that charity event coverage protocol is a little like the Alfred E. Smith Dinner in New York: philanthropists, leaders of business, industry, media, the arts, government and politics should be able to come together without being subjected to ridicule for their attendance at a charity event.

My issue is with using charitable event coverage as vehicle for ridiculing a sitting Governor for his attendance at said event. In New York City, nearly every major charitable organization welcomes a visit by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and would also welcome one by Governor Paterson. When business, community and political leaders attend an important event, frankly it assists in fundraising. I regularly read GuestofaGuest.com. along with Cityfile.com, Tia Walker’s The Quest for “it” and Celia Chen’s Notes On A Party to get a sense of what is going on socially in New York City, including stuff I may have missed, not been invited to or that I had no interest or time to attend.

My advice, however, if you are in the tank for a particular politician, just make your intentions a bit more clear so that your readers know your lack of objectivity. I always do. People know who I support and they can judge me or my coverage accordingly. Otherwise this seems like another shot across the bow against Governor David Paterson’s re-election effort by folks comfortably lodged in the corner of his potential challenger, Andrew Cuomo. Frankly, it is cowardly and amateurish.

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