As a keen observer of the New York political scene and devoted
fan of the state's Conservative Party and its
Chairman Mike Long, I'm keeping a close eye on the gubernatorial
and Senate races there, and watching with glee as Long stands up to
the state Republican party which, after years adrift under the sad
leadership of George Elmer Pataki, has probably never been further
to the left. It's like the Rockefeller era all over again up there,
but with more distasteful individuals around.
The great thing about Long and his party is that the Pataki
people don't have a snowball's chance in hell of being successful
in retaining the Governor's mansion nor defeating HRC if they
cannot field consensus candidates for the two seats. Pataki clones
just ain't gonna cut it this time around, as the Conservatives have
been there, done that, and are not all that interested in doing it
again.
To this end, the GOP has already screwed up the Senate race by
anointing Jeanine Pirro
over Long's reservations, and it may be on the verge of making the
same mistake twice with regard to the governor's race.
I'll write more about the New York stuff in the weeks ahead, but
I wanted to quickly weigh in on this piece by the New York Post's esteemed
political reporter, Fred Dicker. Seems Former Massachusetts
Governor Bill Weld and State GOP Chairman Steven Minarik are
scheming to assuage conservatives by naming a conservative running
mate for Weld. But the job "Lt. Governor of New York" might as well
be a no-show job.
Months ago, Long made it abundantly clear that Weld would not be
well-regarded by the Conservative Party of New York. He has since
strongly hinted that there will be no Weld running on the
Conservative line in the 2006 Governor's race. Again, despite
Long's concerns, Minarik endorsed Weld over the summer, pretty much
setting a course for collision with the Conservative Party.
Now it appears the hapless GOP Chairman is trying to get Weld to
offer the Lt. Governor nod to former Assembly Republican Leader
John Faso, the failed 2002 candidate for Comptroller on the Pataki
ticket. Faso is a good guy, a good conservative, and would, I
think, be quite acceptable to Long as a gubernatorial nominee. But
if I know Mike Long, I do not think Minarik's Weld-Faso stunt will
fly.
topics:
NATO
