Obama

With 19 days to go before Election Day and early voting already taking place in several states, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will be hitting the trail for President Obama as a surrogate.

In an interview on Fred Dicker’s Talk-1300 show, Cuomo said he will act as a “responsible surrogate” because he doesn’t want New Yorkers to have the impression that he’s seeking the job himself come 2016.

“I want to make it clear what I’m doing I’m doing as a responsible surrogate for President Obama,” Cuomo told Dicker this morning. “I understand the fascination of the press” with a potential White House run in the next election cycle.

The governor did not know where he would be going to stump for Obama, nor did he say when an appearance might be made.

Cuomo would likely be an effective spokesman for Obama on the campaign trail. He is the most popular Democratic governor in the country and his successful push for the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York led the president to revise his own opinion on the issue.

Still, it’s somewhat unusual that a Democratic governor stumping for a Democratic president should rise to the level of being news. But it is news, considering Cuomo reluctance to climb on to the national stage.

Cuomo has been very cautious to wade in to the national scene and is very mindful of how his father’s time as governor became consumed with speculation he would run for president in 1988 and 1992.

“It hurts me as governor,” Cuomo said of the speculation. “I just won’t allow that to happen.”

As such, he has studiously avoided making any national press appearances and has stuck to statewide and local media.

The governor did make a surprise appearance in the so-called “Spin Room” at the Tuesday debate at Long Island’s Hofstra University (he was not on the official list of surrogates released by the Obama campaign). He praised Obama’s performance and gave measured criticism of Republican Mitt Romney.

And he made a drop-in appearance at the convention Charlotte for just one day to speak to the New York delegation.

But as I noted yesterday, the post-debate appearance before reporters appeared to be the start of Cuomo cautiously dipping his toe into the surrogacy pool, while shrugging off the 2016 talk.

Cuomo said in the radio interview that he met with Obama after the debate.

“He was up, his team was up,” Cuomo said. “They believed they did very well … they were well aware of the criticism from the prior debate.”

Cuomo is also attending the Al Smith Dinner in New York City this evening where both Obama and Romney will be in attendance.

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