Cuomo Being Urged to Run

ALBANY, N.Y.--Gov. Mario Cuomo, being urged to run by his closest advisers, will talk presidential politics with Democratic National Chairman Ron Brown sometime around Election Day, a top Cuomo aide said yesterday.

Brown has said he wants party heavyweights such as Cuomo and Jesse Jackson to make their plans known about the 1992 race by this year's Nov. 5 election.

"He wants a decision by Election Day so I think it's reasonable for the two of them to sit down around then," said John Marino, the New York party chair and a close Cuomo adviser, of Brown's request.

Party strategists generally believe Cuomo would be the immediate front-runner for the Democratic nomination if he entered the race. Some also believe that uncertainty about the third-term governor's intentions are making it harder for less well-known candidates to raise money.

Meanwhile, there were published reports yesterday that Cuomo's top political adviser, son Andrew Cuomo, was urging his father to run for the White House; and that Cuomo had decided to remain as governor, even if he ran for president. The reports were based on unidentified sources close to the governor.

Marino said he didn't know whether Cuomo would be ready to give Brown a final answer on a presidential run by early November.

"It's very tough, it's a personal decision," Marino said.

The New York party chief noted that Cuomo has talked to other political strategists about a possible presidential campaign.

"It certainly makes sense, if you're talking to these people, to talk to somebody who's the Democratic national chair and knows a great deal of things about not only a presidential run, but what other role a New York governor might play if he did not run," Marino said.

Marino said the Cuomo-Brown talks would probably be more than a formality. He noted that Cuomo had taught Brown in law school, had remained friendly with Brown since, and had supported Brown's candidacy for the national party post.

"I don't think Ron would be upset at Cuomo entering the race," Marino added.

"Chairman Brown would be more than inclined to meet with the governor," said Brown spokesperson Ginny Terzano. She declined to speculate on what advice the national chair might give the governor.

Word of the possible Brown-Cuomo summit came on the same day that The New York Post reported that Andrew Cuomo was urging his father to join the race for the Democratic nomination.

Quoting unidentified sources, the Post said the younger Cuomo and Fabian Palomino, a longtime Cuomo friend who serves as head of the Javits Convention Center in New York City, were urging a Cuomo campaign.

The Post said the entreaties to Cuomo from his advisers came in "direct advice" and a "detailed analysis" of how a campaign should be conducted.

"Whatever conversations we've had were brief and personal, and I prefer to keep them that way," Andrew Cuomo told the Post.

Neither the elder Cuomo nor Palomino could be reached immediately for comment yesterday

Meanwhile, The Buffalo News reported that Cuomo has decided that if he runs for president, he will remain as governor. The News' report was also based on unidentified sources close to the governor.

Cuomo has said repeatedly that it would be difficult if not impossible to run for president while serving as governor. He's also said he believes it is a bad time to leave as governor given the serious fiscal problems facing the state and New York City.

On Monday, Cuomo told Albany's WAMC radio that quitting the New York governorship to run for president might be "a from of abandonment."

"It's not impossible, it's been done," Cuomo spokesperson Anne Crowley said when asked about someone running for president while serving as governor. She noted that then-Gov. Michael Dukakis did it in 1988. The Massachusetts Democrat lost. She also noted that Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas was trying it this time around.

The last time a sitting governor ran successfully for president was 1932. It was New York Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt.