Addressing a meeting of the State Democratic Committee, the governor said his time in office amounted to “a beautiful story to tell.” “The greatest accomplishment of all, my friends, is not about the individual issues,” Mr. Cuomo said. “At the end of the day, after 18 months, people believe in state government once again.” But he conspicuously did not mention if his support for Democrats extended to those running for the State Senate, which is currently controlled by a Republican majority that has generally been supportive of his agenda. Speaking to reporters after the speech, Mr. Cuomo refused to discuss control of the Senate — or any other political subject. “We’ll discuss political decisions in the political season, but we’re now in the government season and we’re trying to get government bills passed,” he said. “So let’s keep the conversation about government.” Asked why he had come to a party event if he did not want to discuss politics, Mr. Cuomo responded, “We had a political speech; I’m now stopping the political speech and we’re going to talk about government.” During his 19-minute address to party officials, in a hotel ballroom down the street from the Capitol, Mr. Cuomo spent much of his time describing his legislative achievements, including the creation of a property tax cap and an overhaul of the state’s personal income tax code. He talked only briefly about politics, a subject that he avoids discussing in news conferences and other public events. In his speech, Mr. Cuomo described re-electing President Obama as the party’s “first order of business.” Promising that New York would “give him the best mandate in the United States of America,” Mr. Cuomo said the economy had improved during the Obama administration, and he noted the difficult economic circumstances the president faced when he took office. “They were talking about the banks on Wall Street toppling like dominoes, one after the other,” he said, “and the firm hand of President Barack Obama came in and took this nation and this nation’s economy and it stabilized.” Mr. Cuomo also offered a discussion of political philosophy, describing what he saw as the key differences between Democrats and Republicans in New York. “The difference between us, as progressives, and the conservatives,” he said, “is that we believe that government can work and that we can come together and make this place a better place for all of us.” “What the conservatives are saying is that doesn’t work — government doesn’t work,” he added. “What the conservatives are saying is, government is a fool’s errand, it’s too expensive, it’s counterproductive, it’s corrupt — you can’t make it work. And that leads the conservatives to their philosophy of this extreme individualism: do for yourself because there is no collective, and there is no ability to come together for the common good.” The meeting included appearances by the two officials whom Mr. Cuomo chose this week to serve as leaders of the state party, Mayor Stephanie A. Miner of Syracuse and Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright of Manhattan. Ms. Miner and Mr. Wright will be formally installed at a meeting early next month.
