Best Option for Cuomo: Be a Better Governor

With a bit more than a third of the ballots counted on Election Night, Andrew Cuomo had 70 percent of the vote to 26 percent for his Republican opponent, Marc Molinaro, and it seemed possible that he was on his way to such an overwhelming win that, deserved or not, he would be thrust into the front of the pack seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2020.

But then what might be called the Paladino Principle asserted itself. Carl Paladino, the GOP nominee against Mr. Cuomo in 2010, established benchmarks for uncouth behavior and questionable associations that have faded from memory only because Donald Trump has since redefined the standards for New York politicians, yet he still got 33.5 percent of the vote to the Democrat’s 63 percent.