As the 33rd annual Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) roared to a close Saturday night in Washington, D.C., New
York State Conservative Party leaders and activists began to
descend upon snowy Albany, as they have done for 39 years now, for
their own Conservative Party Political Action Conference
(CPPAC).
Much like the national conference, CPPAC attendees were treated
to speeches and panels on issues such as election law, stem cell
research, and so on. Yet unlike the national event, CPPAC is a
party conference, and with statewide elections looming in November,
the New York State Conservative Party stands at maybe the most
critical juncture of its 43-year history.
In recent months the undistinguished outgoing Governor George
Pataki (who would never have become governor back in 1994 without
the votes cast for him on the Conservative Party line) has finally
distinguished himself — as having spent more time in Iowa than any
other presidential hopeful. Meanwhile, back in the Empire State, he
has left behind a legacy of multiple disappointments including a
basically wrecked state Republican Party lacking both a backbench
and a backbone.
As such, the feeble State GOP leadership (presumably with
Pataki’s blessing) has decided that its party’s best hope against
the formidable presumptive Democratic nominee, Eliot Spitzer, lies
in one William Weld. Yes, William Weld, the former two-term
Governor of Massachusetts, has moved to New York to do it all over
again. Yes, the same William Weld whom conservatives thought had
been relegated to the political ash heap after Senator Jesse Helms
famously nuked his nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico during
the Clinton era.
“The fact that Weld is the leading contender speaks volumes
about the state of the New York GOP,” said Tony Fabrizio, a
nationally known Republican strategist and New York native. “How
can there be no homegrown contender groomed and prepared to take on
someone like Spitzer? The need for them to call on a former
Governor of Massachusetts, a guy to the left of Pataki, when they
know all too well that they are toast this time around if they
don’t field someone acceptable to conservatives is just
amazing.”
But the New York State Conservative Party — the tail which has
at times wagged the State GOP dog with astonishing effectiveness
over the years but seemed to some to have become a bit passive over
the course of the Pataki era — is just not having it.
There are in fact four candidates seeking both the Republican
and Conservative party nominations: Weld, current Secretary of
State Randy Daniels, former Assembly Republican leader-turned
lobbyist John Faso, and a young Assemblyman from the upper Hudson
Valley, Patrick Manning. To date, Faso and Manning seem to be the
clear favorites of the Conservative rank and file, some seem to
find Daniels relatively acceptable, and very few have warmed to the
concept of a Weld candidacy.
Mike Long, a tough and feisty Marine with uncommon political
acumen, has led the Conservative Party since 1988. In the days
leading up to CPPAC, Long reiterated that Weld is highly unlikely
to wind up with his party’s nomination. Further, if indeed the
state GOP leadership doesn’t abandon its support for Weld in favor
of a candidate more acceptable to conservatives, it is widely
believed that the Conservatives will field a general election
ticket of their own.
Such a development would, of course, ensure a Spitzer victory in
November, but many conservatives both in and out of the state
believe that to be a small price to pay in exchange for delivering
a crystal clear message to the Republicans that the days of taking
the state’s Conservatives for granted are over for good.
Author and conservative strategist Craig Shirley, also a native
New Yorker, is one of them. “Conservatives in New York would do
well to consider carefully at what point they will gag too much on
a moderate/liberal nominated by the state’s GOP and possibly
nominate their own candidate, if only to teach the GOP
establishment a lesson. Politics can be a noble calling, but this
requires patience, discipline and the courage to say ‘no’ when you
have to, political consequences be damned. The time for the New
York Conservatives to say ‘no’ may well be upon them this year,”
Shirley said.
In a letter circulated to party activists last week in advance
of the CPPAC conference, George J. Marlin, a Conservative Party
elder who recently documented the party’s distinguished history in
his book Fighting the Good Fight, wrote:
In the past decade, Republicans have betrayed us on
every conceivable issue… I urge you to support statewide
candidates who do not fear standing up for our principles and are
therefore willing to run this November solely on the Conservative
line.
So where does the saga stand apres CPPAC? The
aforementioned snow having prohibited your correspondent from
covering events live from the scene, we turned to Chairman Long via
telephone as the conference wrapped up:
CJ: How did the wannabes fare? I assume Weld,
Daniels, Faso, and Manning were all on hand — are any of them
showing momentum amongst the faithful?
ML: All four were indeed on hand. Weld gained
no ground whatsoever — nothing changed there. All were received
cordially, but it appears to me that while (Daniels) was a great
speaker, Faso and Manning have clearly garnered most of the support
amongst the rank and file.
CJ: If you had to make a prediction right now,
how do you see this playing out? Do you get the sense that most of
your folks support running an independent ticket if need be?
ML: There was great sentiment at CPPAC from our
leaders throughout the state to mobilize rapidly behind our own
candidate. This is important to help make the point to the
Republicans that Weld is a no-go. If we pick the right candidate,
it could position them to win a Republican primary statewide. I
think most of our folks are willing to support either Faso or
Manning as long as there’s a clear commitment to run on the
conservative party line regardless of whether they ultimately win
the Republican nomination — so that they will be our candidate,
and in it to the end, regardless.
CJ: What is wrong with the NY Republican Party?
Is it arrogance? Ineptitude? Both?
ML: None of the above, really. They have simply
lost the will to stand for principle. They have lost the will to
stand for true Republican ideas. They now believe in their own
theory that New York State is a Blue State, so we all might as well
start acting more like Democrats and less like Republicans —
particularly Conservative Republicans in the mold of Reagan.
CJ: Some have suggested a compromise scenario,
whereby the Conservatives might go along with Weld if they were
given the opportunity to choose his running mate. True?
ML: False.
CJ: Can conservatives outside of New York do
anything to support you all in this?
ML: At the moment, not really. Once we
designate a candidate for Governor, we’ll need help in the form of
contributions to the candidate, endorsements, columns in
publications like the Spectator… we’ll need all the help
we can get from conservatives everywhere. I urge our allies to keep
up with the developments by visiting the party website, www.cpnys.org.
