Rudy Guiliani

Rudy Guiliani For Senate And Then The Presidency?

Ronald 3 Comments

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani apparently has decided to give up on a chance to run for Governor, partly on the basis that State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo seems set to run and is far ahead in the polls over Governor David Paterson and Guiliani, too.

Instead, it seems that Guiliani is now looking at the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, and filled temporarily by Kirsten Gillibrand, who is seeking to finish out the two years left after 2010 and then seek a full term in 2012.

According to the polls, Guiliani is substantially ahead of Gillibrand and would have an excellent chance to win the Senate seat. It makes one wonder why Governor Paterson made such a poor choice with Gillibrand, who it is hard to be enthused about. One could wish that other Democrats would challenge her, as she has always seemed to me to be a weak choice, and now may lose that seat for the Democrats.

But apparently, it is also the plan of Guiliani to use the Senate seat as a stepping stone for the White House in 2012. I think it should be required that Guiliani make clear that he will not seek the Presidency, and is not using a two year term in the Senate as simply an opportunity to promote himself. The state of New York should not elect someone who has no intention of staying longer.

Having said that, the odds of Guiliani, who is still, after all, considered quite “moderate” or even in some ways “liberal” in comparison to almost all other Republicans, winning a Presidential nomination after such a total disaster in his quest for the White House in 2008, has to be seen as next to zero!

So my advice, Rudy, is make up your mind that if you want to be a Senator, that you commit yourself to that position and set out to serve the people, rather than your own delusional ambitions for a job you will NEVER attain!

Time For NY Governor David Paterson To Bow Out Of 2010 Gubernatorial Race!

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NY Governor David Paterson has been a disaster area for most of the time since he succeeded disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2008.

His poll ratings have been horrid, and a new advertising campaign has not helped one bit. He is 60 points behind Attorney General Andrew Coumo in a Democratic poll, and 20 points behind former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani in a matchup for the fall election less than a year from now.

Under the circumstances, it is time for Governor Paterson to announce his withdrawal from the race, to allow Attorney General Coumo to begin the campaign to keep the Democrats in control in Albany, as every polls shows him winning over Guiliani or even former Congressman Rick Lazio.

For the good of the Democratic party and New York, Governor Paterson needs to face reality and show some statesmanship and back Andrew Cuomo now, and insure the party’s future in a crucial race, in which both Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer will be on the ballot. Do the right thing now, Governor Paterson!

The New York Political Scene And Barack Obama’s Intervention

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New York is a strongly Democratic state, with all but two Congressmen now being Democrats, and two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor.

But New York has been tormented by controversy–first with former Governor Eliot Spitzer being forced out of office because of a sex scandal involving a prostitute; then the controversy over the replacement of Hillary Clinton in her Senate seat; and then with the quick rapid collapse of public opinion around Governor David Paterson, who succeeded Spitzer when he resigned.

Paterson has come across as inept and ineffective in the Governorship in the nearly 18 months he has been Governor, and there is real concern that the Democrats could lose both the Governor’s office and the Senate seat of Kirsten Gillibrand, Hillary Clinton’s appointed successor, in 2010.

The loss of the Governorship could hurt some Congressmen state wide as well, and that could affect reapportionment of seats both in the House of Representatives and in the state legislature, if the GOP wins control of the State Senate, which they briefly controlled this past summer when a couple of Democrats briefly switched parties before going back to the party that elected them. The state legislature came across as totally inept and chaotic, and New York does not present a very impressive image right now, which is an embarrassment to many who regard New York as one of the premier states of the Union.

The danger is that it is likely that former Mayor Rudy Guiliani may challenge Governor Paterson, and in any poll, wins over the governor, who only has in most polls about a 20 percent rating. Also, the possibility exists that former Governor George Pataki may challenge Senator Gillibrand, and has a lead in polls on that race.

This situation would greatly change if Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor Mario Cuomo, and very popular in all polls, was to be the nominee for Governor. The belief is that if he was the nominee and did not have to deal with a divisive primary race against Paterson, that he could beat any opponent, and that Guiliani might not even run if Cuomo was known to be his opponent. Also, Cuomo could help Gillibrand, and might convince Pataki not to run for the Senate, and hopefully, most of the congressional seats and state legislative seats would be safe, as well.

So the fact that there has been pressure from the Obama Administration for Paterson NOT to run may be embarrassing, but makes sense for the long term future of the Democrats in New York and nationally. The hope is that Governor Paterson will see the handwriting on the wall and will withdraw from a race for election, and maybe end up with some position that President Obama can offer him in 2011.

Rudy Guiliani As Candidate For NY Governor?

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The word is out that former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who had a total collapse of his Presidential campaign in 2008, is mulling the idea of running for Governor of New York.

Guiliani has been out of office for eight years now, and has become very prosperous in two different capitalist ventures, and it is hard to imagine his willingness to give that all up to run for the thankless job of becoming governor of the third largest state, one of the more dysfunctional state governments of late.

While it is true that if Governor David Paterson runs for reelection, Guiliani would have an excellent chance to win the office, it is much more likely that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, with a very high visibility and extremely high public opinion rating for going after Wall Street, is likely to run and would easily swamp Paterson, and would make mince meat on Guiliani.

The question that arises is what would Guiliani run on? To campaign on 9/11 as he tried unsuccessfully to do in his 2008 Presidential campaign would not work, but what else is new regarding Rudy Guiliani?

And the hint is that he might still be interested in the Presidency for 2012–that he did not get the message that the GOP is not attracted to him as an Eastern Republican. But would New York wish to elect a man who would have one eye on the Presidency immediately after being elected the executive leader of his state?

The best scenario is that Andrew Cuomo is the Democratic nominee and Rudy Guiliani goes about making money and continuing to talk about 9/11! 🙂

Governor David Paterson And Andrew Cuomo’s Future

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It is highly unfortunate that David Paterson, the Governor of New York by succession after the sudden resignation of Governor Eliot Spitzer due to a sex scandal, has tried to make his low popularity rating connected to the fact that he is African American.

This is a sign of his desperation as polls have indicated that he has an extremely low rating for his performance and his plans to run for reelection in 2010.

His attempt to appoint a Lieutenant Governor, Richard Ravitch, to be in line of succession, went against the NY State Constitution, and after just 43 days, a state court has ruled that the appointment was illegal under state law. It only adds to the sense of futility that this Governor can do anything correct or successful.

Every indication is that Paterson could not defeat a Republican opponent for Governor, were he to run for a full term. The hint is that former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani would be likely to run if Paterson is the nominee, and that Guiliani would defeat him easily. Even if former Congressman Rick Lazio (who lost the Senate race to Hillary Clinton in 2000) were his opponent, the indications are that Lazio would easily defeat Paterson.

Under the circumstances, the best result would be Paterson’s decision to decline to run for a full term, and there are hints that he is considering doing just that.

If Paterson does not voluntarily back down, it seems highly likely that he will lose the nomination for Governor to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former Governor Mario Cuomo. The Attorney General has established an outstanding record in his office, pursuing corporate corruption on Wall Street and showing evidence of his commitment to basic reform in many areas of public policy.

Cuomo has a background of having been Housing and Urban Development Secretary under President Clinton. Every poll makes it clear that he would win a landslide victory in a Democratic primary against Paterson, and would easily defeat either Guiliani or Lazio for the Governorship.

With him on the ticket, along with Senator Charles Schumer, it would also guarantee a victory for appointed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was a controversial appointee by Paterson to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate. Despite a lot of opposition to her appointment, and the likelihood earlier of one or more members of the NY Congressional delegation challenging her in a primary, her switch from being a more conservative Democrat for her upstate district to adoption of more liberal positions on many issues has led to her being lucky enough to avoid a primary. But if Paterson was on the ticket as Governor, he would probably bring her down with him, so Cuomo guarantees a straight Democratic ticket at the top of the ballot, and the likelihood of legislative gains by the Democrats, who desperately need to gain a clear majority in the State Senate, which was subjected earlier this summer to total gridlock and deadlock for a month, presenting an image of total chaos and anarchy, and making NY state government appear to be one of the most dysfunctional in the country, no easy feat! LOL

To top it off, it can be expected that IF Andrew Cuomo is elected Governor of New York, we could easily put him on the long range list for possible nomination for President in 2016. By that date, he would be 59 years of age with a record of serving a President, and being Attorney General and Governor of the third largest state.

It is about time that New York recovered from what has been a disaster under Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson, and that Andrew Cuomo be nominated and elected Governor, and restores the image and reputation that his father had as Governor from his election in 1982 to his retirement in 1994.