Florida Gov. Scott has made news recently by poaching (Democratic-governor states) and suing the federal government over Low Income Pool funding. Meanwhile, New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making good on New York’s “State of Opportunity” mantra this week with the first governor-led state mission to Cuba since President Barack Obama began the process to normalize diplomatic relations.
While Tallahassee–capital of the state that has the most to gain when normalization morphs into unfettered trade and travel–dithers with proclamations of protest, Gov. Cuomo is in Havana with corporate movers and shakers as well as key political leaders. His entourage includes, among others, representatives of JetBlue, MasterCard, Pfizer, the NY Genome Center, Regeneron, Infor, Chobani and the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
This is an ideology-free, smart business move by Cuomo, who, unlike his Florida counterpart, doesn’t have to counterproductively pander to exile-community hardliners and compromised politicians.