In March 1984 Gary Hart , a senator seeking the Democratic Party 's nomination for the presidential election , openly citing inspiration from Cuomo , stated , " I 'd like to talk about the family of America . " The governor , however , had endorsed leading candidate Walter Mondale . Mondale inquired as Cuomo 's interest in joining his campaign to seek the Vice Presidency . Cuomo stated that he had promised to finish his four-year term as governor , but indicated that he would not be opposed to delivering the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention ( DNC ) in San Francisco , California . Mondale thought he was the best choice for the role , as he believed Cuomo could win him the support of Italian Americans as well as the so-called " Cuomo majority " , a coalition of black , Hispanic , white liberal , and labor unionist voters that supported his gubernatorial campaign . Others hoped Cuomo could win over Democrats who had voted for Reagan in 1980 as well as independent voters . The governor had promised former President Jimmy Carter that he would assist Mondale ( Carter 's Vice President ) any way he could , and Mondale told him , " If you want to help me , you 'll give the speech . " Cuomo did not believe he had a high enough national profile for such an event and felt that Senator Edward M. Kennedy would make for a better speaker . Mondale expressed disdain towards the suggestion . Michael Del Giudice , the governor 's chief of staff , urged Cuomo to accept the offer , believing it was a good opportunity for him to express his beliefs and a chance to bolster Mondale 's support . Del Giudice felt that even if the speech had an unimpressive reception , it would not cause Mondale 's campaign significant harm . David W. Burke thought delivering the keynote was a bad idea and cautioned against it . Cuomo 's son , Andrew , and his communications director , Tim Russert , shared the governor 's anxieties that a bad performance would reflect poorly on him and damage his own political prospects . Nevertheless , they encouraged him to take up the role of keynote speaker
1984 Democratic National Convention
1984 Democratic National Convention
A Tale of Two Cities (speech)