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written by Quickjustice , January 14, 2010
To my many friends in the Queens GOP: While I respect your opinion, please explain why Lazio isn't a loser.
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written by Daniel Peterson , January 14, 2010
QJ, clearly Rick Lazio has been making his rounds across the state addressing key issues for the state. He is sitting down with executive officers from Republican County committees and Conservative County committees and probably Independence County Committees and being asked questions that concern each organization.
If the executive officers of a county approve of Mr. Lazio's answers, then it seems logical they would issue an endorsement.
Please note that these are early endorsements from county chairs and the executive leadership and not the full vote from the entire county organization. However, it is important for candidates who are actively pursing an office to receive initial support in order to process the campaign in an effective way.
I said in a previous post somewhere that the problems with Mr. Lazio's 2000 Senate campaign were numerous and created a divide between the candidate and his supporters. However, Lazio was originally pushed aside and then rushed back into the Senate campaign then and wasn't able to put together a full campaign. He's older, wiser and has had the luxury of correcting many of the issues he faced a decade ago.
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written by Frank Ammendolea , January 14, 2010
Dan, all that his "making the rounds" tells me is that Lazio was smart enough to seize upon the power vaccum in the GOP early. Now he is reaping the rewards of being the first guy on line.
I have no doubt at this point that he is going to be the nominee, but I have to agree with QJ's assessment that he's a loser. His failed Senate campaign was just one example. In 2002 the Republicans turned to him because they polled his district and found that he would beat Steve Israel and get the seat back. He told them that he would only do it if he had his full seniority restored to him in the House. When they advised that they could not comply, he told them to take a hike. Lazio cost us a seat that we badly needed because of his personal issues and selfishness. Now he wants Republicans to rally to his cause? Please.
Rick Lazio is not incompetent, and he's not the worst candidate we could have (a sell out mercenary like Bloomberg or a blue blood liberal GOPer like Bill Weld would be far worse), but he is by no means the best.
In the end these county organization endorsements don't mean much. If a better candidate gets into a primary with Lazio, I could care less who my county endorses. I vote for who I think will be the strongest candidate in November.
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written by chancehaywood , January 14, 2010
Frank I don't get your reasoning for associating Lazio as a loser. Are you upset he got screwed by the state GOP because they initially backed Rudy in that senate race or because he asked for a perk to be the candidate for an office he probably had no taste for again? He didn't cost us a seat. Our party has a bad habit of shooting itself in the foot with a lack of development of candidates for future races. If you walked into any local GOP office right now and asked them who they see as candidates for city council the next go around most wouldn't be able to give you an answer because they haven't thought that far ahead. If you aren't grooming people to run you have no business leading.
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written by David S. Levine , January 14, 2010
Whatever anyone thinks are his shortcomongs, Lazio is the best we have who is willing to run.
That was the situration in 1994 when the Party turned to Pataki--he was the best of those who showed up.
Let those who don't feel that way come up with someone better who is willing to run!
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written by Daniel Peterson , January 14, 2010
Also, I'd have to look at the context of where the GOP was in 2002.
Pataki was running for his third term.
Lazio had lost his race against Clinton 2 years earlier.
After running for a statewide office, he was asked to run for a congressional seat.
That's kind of like saying to Giuliani to run for his congressional seat against Caroline Maloney. I'm sure he'd do the same as Lazio. Buck it.
Chance makes a very good point.
It's 2010 and Lazio is the only man (until Saturday) to have stepped forward for a statewide office.
We have State Senate seats, the 15, the 26 and the 34 that should have viable candidates so we can make an aggressive push to take back the Senate. We should be able to win and hold nearly all Nassau & Suffolks State Senate seats, maybe save one or two, but we aren't putting much attention in any of those seats.
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written by Jay Golub , January 23, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o...GtbcuqNp3I
I don't agree with the sentiment in this piece - that Lazio can't win the Governor's race...
The only Republican to so far announce a challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is Bruce Blakeman -- a former Nassau County legislator and loser in the 1998 state comptroller race. And there are no GOP takers to go after Sen. Charles Schumer.
And, despite Gov. Paterson's huge disapproval numbers, the only Republican running for governor is Rick Lazio, the former Long Island congressman, who ran a dismal 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton.
Yet the backlash against President Obama and his big-government agenda is huge -- especially among independents, who were critical to Brown and would be for New York Republicans. Is the local party stuck hoping that obscure or weak candidates can pull off a Scott Brown-like miracle?
You begin to see why state GOP Chairman Edward Cox reportedly talked with Levy about switching parties for a gubernatorial run.
...if a man like Brown could win in Massachusetts, certainly a man with the experience of Lazio - especially the experience he's received SINCE his 2000 run for Senate - could win in New York for Governor.
Besides, this piece makes it like there are no issues for Levy to deal with - issues that could terminate a candidacy for Governor before they started.
Eastern Long Island has been going through a wave of anti-hispanic and anti-immigration activity under Levy's tenure. Many say he's fanned the flames of anti-immigration sentiment for political purposes.
For someone to win in this state, one can't have the hispanic and greater minority community against him. I think Levy will have a problem in this regard at the outset.
It seems that Lazio detractors want to stick to the "he lost in 2000"-thing, yet I don't know anyone who's beaten Hillary other than the man who is in the White House today. For everyone to say Lazio can't win because he couldn't be Mrs. Clinton here in New York is a ridiculously unfair and inappropriate comparison...
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