American Notes Politics

If New York Governor Mario Cuomo had only remembered Benjamin Disraeli's maxim "Never complain, never explain," he might have avoided some heavy fire from the National Rifle Association. In March, Cuomo offhandedly told a Los Angeles Times reporter that opposition to New York's new mandatory seat-belt law had mostly come from "N.R.A. hunters, who drink beer, don't vote and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend." When he saw his words in a Times story last month, the liberal Democratic Governor and possible presidential candidate realized that he had insulted a large, well-organized conservative lobby.

To clear things up, the Governor broached the subject on his statewide monthly radio show. Cuomo also sent a long apology to then-N.R.A. President Howard Pollock, enclosing the Times piece, as well as a transcript of his radio remarks. "My response was inartful," Cuomo wrote, "and could leave a false impression of disrespect for the National Rifle Association." Boom! The N.R.A., which had not been aware of the gaffe, blasted the Governor in a national press release and vowed that its voice, in the form of about 200,000 members in New York State, would be heard at the polls should Cuomo run for re-election next year.