Clinton's union supporters boo New York governor at campaign rally

What could be better than a New York campaign stop where Hillary Clinton preaches to the choir of teachers union members? A crowd which interrupts her with boos when she mentions the name of the Democratic governor of the state who is incidentally also one of her biggest supporters. That’s what happened when the presumptive Democratic nominee and subject of a massive FBI investigation took to the stage in front of a crowd of union activists and invoked the name of Andrew Cuomo. (Daily Caller)

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Hillary Clinton elicited boos from members of New York’s largest teachers union after mentioning the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, at a campaign event held in Rochester Friday night. At a closed-door event hosted by New York State United Teachers, Clinton praised Cuomo for supporting a $15 minimum wage in the state. But members of the 600,000 member union were not as enamored with Cuomo.

“I applaud the big step just taken under Governor Cuomo’s leadership to raise the minimum wage,” Clinton began, prompting loud boos from attendees.

“Well, now come on, come on,” Clinton responded, holding up her hands and tilting her head.

“Raising the minimum wage is a big deal in America and New York is leading the way,” she said. “There’s other work to be done, I grant you that,” she added.

A moment like this is too good to miss out on the video.

While this is some fun, popcorn snacking material for conservatives, it does lead me to wonder if there might not be something to the entire theory of discontent on the Left being nearly as divisive as it is among Republicans. Cuomo was once regarded as a potential presidential contender for the Dems, though he’s accumulated a lot of scandal baggage since then. (Of course, if you ask Cuomo, he probably still thinks he’s in the running.) This wasn’t an event full of Black Lives Matter protesters who were hitting Clinton with heckling. These were her actual union supporters in a closed meeting. But Cuomo, for all his socialist tendencies, hasn’t been perfect in the eyes of the unions and is therefore persona non grata at some meetings.

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When you’ve lost the teachers unions, you’ve pretty much lost the left wing of the party.

The other notable aspect of her remarks was that she chose to invoke the Fight for 15 in her defense of Cuomo’s record. That’s a big deal with the unions and much of her base, but what she failed to mention was that her support for a $15 per hour minimum wage in New York was actually conditional. She’s been hit repeatedly by the Sanders campaign over this specific issue which is coming more into focus as the race moves to the Empire State. Sanders (and the unions) are pushing for a federal minimum wage of $15, but Clinton gave her approval to a plan in New York where the more rural, upstate area will have a minimum nearly three dollars per hour lower. Also, she only wants a national minimum of $12.

When considering all these factors, one has to wonder why the union members only threw out catcalls for Cuomo and didn’t simply boo Clinton as well. But it’s an election season, so logic isn’t really a requirement to gain entrance to rallies.

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David Strom 10:00 AM | December 23, 2024
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