ALBANY — The Ebola scare allowed Gov. Cuomo to take center stage on Friday, leaving Republican challenger Rob Astorino on the sidelines 11 days before the election.
Displaying the advantages of incumbency, Cuomo hit five morning television shows — four of them with national audiences — within 90 minutes Friday morning to provide updates.
Later, he took the subway to show that it is Ebola-free, before holding a joint press conference with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to announce new screening rules for airline travelers arriving from the Ebola hot zone.
By embracing quarantines for people who’ve had contact with Ebola patients, Cuomo moved closer to the position of Astorino, who for weeks has been demanding a ban on all travel from Ebola-stricken West African countries.
But Astorino and his campaign largely became an afterthought, at least for a day, showing how a crisis can give an incumbent a platform to communicate with voters without appearing political.
"If you're an elected official and running for office and an emergency like this rises, you want to be seen as someone who understands how to use government to make people’s lives better,” said veteran Democratic consultant Joseph Mercurio.
For government officials, there is no more crucial role than overseeing public health and safety. How an elected official deals with life-and-death issues can make or break a politician.
Since taking office, Cuomo has dealt with Hurricane Sandy and several devastating tropical storms, putting his take-charge style on display.
He often appears alone. After Hurricane Sandy, Cuomo and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg held virtually all their public briefings separately.
It was Mayor de Blasio who took center stage at a joint public briefing with Cuomo on Thursday night. At that briefing, the two elected officials repeatedly emphasized how their administrations had been working cooperatively for weeks preparing for the possibility.
But Cuomo went his own way on Friday — even blindsiding City Hall in announcing quarantines for anyone who’s been in contact with Ebola patients.
Cuomo, a City Hall source said, did not give a heads up to de Blasio or to the city Health Department before announcing the new screening rules, which the Health Department will have to carry out.
In his recent memoir, Cuomo called emergency management “an absolutely essential function for government.”
“Emergency situations bring home the fact that government has a function,” Cuomo wrote. “Life-or-death crises make the political arguments disappear ... People never refuse a rescue because they don’t believe in big government.”
Those who have been through it before say the key is to not make it look like decisions are being made for political reasons.
Anthony Carbonetti, a deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani on 9/11, said, “It’s all about preparedness — it’s having a game plan.”
Government leaders need to educate the public, tell the truth, and ensure jittery citizens that someone is on top of things, Carbonetti said. “You tell them what you know and when you know it,” he said.
A former state official agreed that advanced planning and open dialogue with the public is the key to responding to public health crises or natural disasters.
In the case of the Ebola scare, the former official, a Republican, gave props to de Blasio, a Democrat, for revamping the city’s Office of Emergency Management in a way not seen since Giuiliani was mayor.
Astorino on Friday repeated his call for an all-out travel ban from West Africa.
“The proper course of action is to prohibit entrance to any passengers arriving from those nations until verifiable quarantine procedures are established, both overseas and at home,” Astorino said.
He called Cuomo’s “half-measure quarantine” morally unacceptable.
Still, Astorino spokeswoman Jessica Proud said the campaign had no problem with Cuomo taking a front-and-center role on Friday.
“He has an obligation as governor to address the public — we would never criticize him for that,” she said.
Displaying the advantages of incumbency, Cuomo hit five morning television shows — four of them with national audiences — within 90 minutes Friday morning to provide updates.
Later, he took the subway to show that it is Ebola-free, before holding a joint press conference with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to announce new screening rules for airline travelers arriving from the Ebola hot zone.
By embracing quarantines for people who’ve had contact with Ebola patients, Cuomo moved closer to the position of Astorino, who for weeks has been demanding a ban on all travel from Ebola-stricken West African countries.
But Astorino and his campaign largely became an afterthought, at least for a day, showing how a crisis can give an incumbent a platform to communicate with voters without appearing political.
"If you're an elected official and running for office and an emergency like this rises, you want to be seen as someone who understands how to use government to make people’s lives better,” said veteran Democratic consultant Joseph Mercurio.
For government officials, there is no more crucial role than overseeing public health and safety. How an elected official deals with life-and-death issues can make or break a politician.
Since taking office, Cuomo has dealt with Hurricane Sandy and several devastating tropical storms, putting his take-charge style on display.
He often appears alone. After Hurricane Sandy, Cuomo and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg held virtually all their public briefings separately.
It was Mayor de Blasio who took center stage at a joint public briefing with Cuomo on Thursday night. At that briefing, the two elected officials repeatedly emphasized how their administrations had been working cooperatively for weeks preparing for the possibility.
But Cuomo went his own way on Friday — even blindsiding City Hall in announcing quarantines for anyone who’s been in contact with Ebola patients.
Cuomo, a City Hall source said, did not give a heads up to de Blasio or to the city Health Department before announcing the new screening rules, which the Health Department will have to carry out.
In his recent memoir, Cuomo called emergency management “an absolutely essential function for government.”
“Emergency situations bring home the fact that government has a function,” Cuomo wrote. “Life-or-death crises make the political arguments disappear ... People never refuse a rescue because they don’t believe in big government.”
Those who have been through it before say the key is to not make it look like decisions are being made for political reasons.
Anthony Carbonetti, a deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani on 9/11, said, “It’s all about preparedness — it’s having a game plan.”
Government leaders need to educate the public, tell the truth, and ensure jittery citizens that someone is on top of things, Carbonetti said. “You tell them what you know and when you know it,” he said.
A former state official agreed that advanced planning and open dialogue with the public is the key to responding to public health crises or natural disasters.
In the case of the Ebola scare, the former official, a Republican, gave props to de Blasio, a Democrat, for revamping the city’s Office of Emergency Management in a way not seen since Giuiliani was mayor.
Astorino on Friday repeated his call for an all-out travel ban from West Africa.
“The proper course of action is to prohibit entrance to any passengers arriving from those nations until verifiable quarantine procedures are established, both overseas and at home,” Astorino said.
He called Cuomo’s “half-measure quarantine” morally unacceptable.
Still, Astorino spokeswoman Jessica Proud said the campaign had no problem with Cuomo taking a front-and-center role on Friday.
“He has an obligation as governor to address the public — we would never criticize him for that,” she said.
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