Rangel Calls Cuomo Out on Vague Primary Talk

Charlie Rangel might have apologized for sticking his foot in his mouth last week while joking about the accidental police shooting in East Harlem, but that hasn't caused the congressman to lay low when it comes to speaking his mind to the press. Last night he was a guest on Dominic Carter's Inside Politics on NY1 and Rangel further inserted himself into the political chess game that seems to be going on between Governor Paterson and Andrew Cuomo over just who will end up representing Democrats in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Rangel said, "You cannot support the governor, prepare for reelection and at the same time say that you're keeping your options open for a primary. I think that there might be an inclination for racial polarization in a primary in the state of New York." Those last words sound pointed toward Cuomo, who was accused of just that sort of polarizing behavior in 2002 when he kept alive a bid to challenge Carl McCall for the party's nomination longer than many Democrats would have liked.