BY KEN LOVETT
Here is an expanded version of the lead item from my "Albany Insider" column from Monday's editions:
Gov. Cuomo is set to make a joint appearance with Hillary Clinton Thursday night at a pro-gun control gala in the city.
Cuomo will help introduce Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, when she receives a “leadership” award named after his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, at a Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence dinner at Cipriani on Broadway.
"Hillary Clinton has spent decades taking on the gun lobby and fighting in Washington for sensible gun control,” Cuomo told the Daily News. “This is a battle to save lives and I'm proud to help in any way I can."
For the governor, the event is a political twofer, giving him play at a public event with Clinton on a gun control issue he has used to raise his own national profile since the state passed the tough SAFE Act in 2013 in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
More recently, after the random shooting death of one of his aides in September and a mass shooting at an Oregon community college, Cuomo called on Congress to pass a federal gun control law and urged the presidential candidates to make the issue a priority during the 2016 campaign.
Several times in recent weeks he also has attacked Clinton’s closest Democratic primary rival, US Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for his vote to back a bill that granted gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits.
Cuomo, who served as federal housing secretary in President Bill Clinton’s administration, endorsed Hillary Clinton, the former New York US senator, on the day in April when she announced formally she was running.
A spokesman for the Brady Campaign didn't say why the group has named a new award after Mario Cuomo, though it comes only weeks after the New York Times reported that Gov. Cuomo would be doing more publicly to help the Brady Campaign
As for why the organization is honoring Clinton, Brady Campaign President Dan Gross said in a statement that "throughout her career as a public servant, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly put the safety of the American people above the influence and interests of the corporate gun lobby. She serves as an example for all policymakers who truly want to serve the constituencies they are elected to represent. Mrs. Clinton was there when the historic Brady Law was signed by President Bill Clinton and she has demonstrated a clear commitment in support of our efforts to ‘finish the job’ and expand those lifesaving Brady background checks to all gun sales.”
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