Cynthia Nixon couldn’t overcome that surname. Andrew Cuomo trounced her by 30 points, about the same margin by which Tom Carper defeated Kerri Harris. But her campaign’s effect on the two-term incumbent was the same as Harris’ on Carper:
[I]n losing, Ms. Nixon arguably made as much of a policy impact on New York as some elected officials have: Mr. Cuomo embraced a series of liberal ideas soon after her entry, including moving toward legalizing marijuana, extending voting rights to parolees and brokering a deal to dissolve the Independent Democratic Conference, the group of Democratic state senators who had aligned with Republicans in Albany.
Lots of Paul Manafort news yesterday. First we learned from Crazy Rudy — his arguments are inSANE! — that Manafort’s lawyers and Trump’s lawyers have been sharing information all along, a favorite mob tactic for keeping stories straight. Later came word that a plea deal with Mueller was being finalized, along with warnings that he probably wasn’t cooperating. None of which matters because everyone knows Trump will pardon him any moment now.
Strong bid for Dick of the Week by the Louisiana mayor who tried to ban Nike equipment from city facilities. He has finally backed down in the face of threatened legal action by the ACLU.
If you like your palace intrigue garnished with gossip sauce, you can’t beat Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman, who reports that Trump is going more bonkers than usual as he obsesses about the identity of the turncoat known as Mr. Amonymush.
From the Criminal Cops file: An ex-NYPD detective and seven current cops were arrested and charged with running a prostitution and gambling ring with brothels in Brooklyn and nail salons fronting for bookies. Personally, I’d rather see retired cops as pimps and bookmakers than state legislators.
Say goodbye to the Punch Buggy: Volkswagen announced it’s killing the Beetle after the 2019 model year.