DEMS/ELECTION/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Even in the West Wing, all politics is local. President Donald Trump — raised in Queens, made in Manhattan — in the past week is finding his latest targets back home, turning New York political leaders into liberal punching bags that offer him familiar and useful foils ahead of the midterm elections. It’s an old political playbook — attack elite, liberal New York, and the heartland loves you — but it’s also personal for Trump, whose relationships with some of New York’s political leaders go back generations. On Monday[8-13-18], the president deliberately attacked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is fighting for his third term, as a presidential wannabe. He told attendees at a fundraiser in Utica that Cuomo once promised he would ‘never run for president against’ him and then urged him to get in the race…For a president whose actions are often driven by knee-jerk responses to criticism, rather than any planned political strategy, running against New York is seen as a mix of opportunity, muscle memory and method. It also fits with Trump’s instincts, which are to play political small ball even when he’s on the biggest international stage — this time by focusing on the characters his family has interacted with for decades, who also happen to be potential 2020 challengers.”
–Annie Karni, “Trump wages war against New York,” Politico, August 16, 2018 5:22 pm