Governor Hochul Skips President's Home-State Rally, Cites 'Other Campaign Events' That Happen to Be Elsewhere

ALBANY — Governor Hochul will not appear alongside the President at his rally in the state this week, her campaign said, citing previously scheduled campaign events in other parts of the state. The campaign did not say which parts. It did not need to. The answer was: not that one.

The announcement came days after a major independent poll showed Hochul's challenger narrowly ahead, a result within the margin of error and well outside the governor's comfort zone. The President's approval rating, by most national counts, has been spending the autumn in the high thirties.

Allies of Hochul insisted the absence carried no message. 'The governor and the President are completely aligned,' said one, 'just not in the same zip code, or on the same stage, or in any photograph taken between now and November.'

Political scientists call the maneuver 'strategic proximity.' Campaign staffers call it 'the calendar.' Voters, who have seen it before from both parties, call it what it is and move on to the weather.

The Press's statehouse desk runs the flip: when the other party's incumbent ducks his own president's rally, it is 'running scared from a toxic brand.' When Hochul does it, it is 'focusing on local issues.' The rally will be held either way, and the empty seat on the dais will be filled by a folding chair of no party.

At press time the governor's schedule listed four events, none within ninety miles of the arena.