Michael Goodwin: Kathy Hochuls sham of a campaign is off and running and its clear she doesnt have a clue how to fix NY

History credits Abraham Lincoln with saying “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Kathy Hochul obviously agrees, so she has settled for trying to fool some of the people all the time. Nearly two years before she stands for re-election, New York’s Democratic governor is already running hard. To judge from her press releases, social media and public comments, Hochul wants voters to believe she will keep them safe from both crime and poverty. To underscore her pitch, she uses variations of her favorite catchphrases repeatedly: “I promised to put money in your pockets,” she says over and over. And this one: “Public safety is my top priority and I will do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe.” They are the right goals — but the mystery is why Hochul won’t honestly fight to achieve them.Talking is easy, but why not actually do something to make them happen? In fact, under her tenure, New York is going backward.

It is constantly taking more and more money out of people’s pockets. And far from feeling safe, most New Yorkers worry every day about sky-high crime and violence, especially on the subways. The big picture is that the state continues to fall further behind successful, dynamic states in both the cost and quality of life. It turns out that being America’s tax capital and treating perps and raving maniacs with kid gloves is not a formula for keeping residents happy. Who would have guessed? In some ways, the current crisis recalls Hochul’s brush with political death in her 2022 campaign.She acted as if crime wasn’t a big deal then, letting GOP opponent Lee Zeldin pound away on the topic day after day. Although Hochul ultimately prevailed, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded her for ignoring the crime problem, saying it helped the GOP flip enough seats in New York to turn the House red. It emerged later that Hochul had ...