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Moreover, Southerners and Westerners may label Cuomo an "Eastern liberal." Says one Democratic pollster: "Being from New York can be a factor because there is vague resentment of New York." Steven Patterson, Mississippi Democratic state chairman, says that Cuomo "represents the old package, the old liberalism, warmed over from the party's past."
Another Democratic strategist wonders whether Cuomo's appeal is like a wine that does not travel. "I don't know if Mario Cuomo can go beyond the fairly limited environment he's been in most of his life. Sure, he derives strength from his roots. But people must wonder if he can really reach beyond his own history and understand their problems out in farm country and the Sunbelt." Says a key party leader: "If I could give one word of advice to Mario Cuomo, the word would be relax." In the television era, when the ideal temperature for a politician is cool, Cuomo is hot; he comes across not in muted pastels but in bold chiaroscuro.
What distinguishes Cuomo as a politician is his doubts. "In 1977, when I lost, I didn't believe that I was better than the other candidates," he says. Cuomo cross-examines himself about his own motivations. He distrusts ambition. "I take power too seriously to be totally comfortable with it," he says. "If all you have is the personal desire, that's suspicious. You have to have a contribution to make." A man who does not question himself, he suggests, should not be President.
Cuomo often says that people need to believe in something bigger, nob ler than themselves. The question that Cuomo will be struggling with next year is whether he judges himself big enough, noble enough for people to believe in. But the voters will have a more elusive task ahead of them. They will have to come to grips with Cuomo the man, searching for meaning and coherence in his mind and character.