There's Chatter Around Cuomo's Soaring Popularity

Just how much is the popularity of Andrew Cuomo rising? On Monday, President Trump was asked about the possibility of running against the New York governor—and not Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders—as the Democrats' 2020 nominee. The topic came up during an interview on Fox News. "If he's going to run, that's fine," Trump said, per NBC News. "I wouldn't mind running against Andrew. I’ve known Andrew for a long time. I wouldn't mind that but I'll be honest, I think he’d be a better candidate than sleepy Joe." Cuomo is drawing a great deal of attention over his handling of the coronavirus crisis in his state. Coverage:

• Dowd's column: Maureen Dowd of the New York Times wrote a lengthy, flattering piece about Cuomo over the weekend. "To the surprise of many who did not associate the name 'Andrew Cuomo' with the word 'empathy,' the governor has become a sort of national shrink, talking us through our fear, our loss, and our growing stir-craziness," she writes. Dowd even asked him if was interested a run for the White House, eliciting this response after a long pause: "No. I know presidential politics. I was there in the White House with Clinton. I was there with Gore. No, I’m at peace with who I am and what I’m doing."

• His approval: It's near universal in New York, where 9 in 10 residents approve of the way he's handling the crisis, reports the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, 87% give him a thumbs-up, compared with 41% for President Trump.
• 2020: At the Daily Caller, Christian Datoc lays out the "improbable but not impossible" way the 62-year-old Cuomo could end up as the Democratic nominee via a brokered party convention. But at Politico, Bill Mahoney tosses cold water on the idea. "The evidence suggests that’s he’s highly likely to remain in New York for the foreseeable future." Mahoney draws a parallel between the governor and his father, Mario Cuomo, who flirted with a White House run himself while New York's governor.
• Veep? Another idea is that Biden should pick Cuomo as his VP, notes Bob McManus at the New York Post. McManus thinks that too is highly unlikely, partly because Biden already has boxed himself in by promising to name a female running mate.
• Lighter side: At Jezebel, Rebecca Fishbein wrote a column headlined, "Help, I Think I'm In Love With Andrew Cuomo???" explaining that over the years, she had "developed an intense and reasonable dislike of Cuomo." The came the crisis and his daily briefings. "I need Cuomo’s measured bullying, his love of circumventing the federal government, his sparring with increasingly incompetent city leadership," she writes. "Not only that, but the less contact I have with other humans, the more I start to think of Cuomo as my only friend."
• Footnote: Dowd points out that Cuomo read the Jezebel column and called author Fishbein. "You know, it was sad, the piece," he explains. "Being alone in your apartment for virtually 24 hours a day for days and days in this fearful situation and there’s no one to lay on the couch with and watch TV with, and no one to hold. That’s terrible."
• Family ties: Cuomo's younger brother Chris is a CNN anchor, and the two have drawn attention during the outbreak with banter like this, about whether the governor has called their mother.

(More Andrew Cuomo stories.)