Today is the much-hyped meeting between Mayor Bloomberg and the five city GOP Chairs. Sources expect it to be a rather anti-climactic event - with no decision being announced and no news of any substance coming out of the meeting. This is in spite of talk that many of the Mayor's people have been calling the Chairs and informing them, quite forcefully, that the Mayor expect a decision today from the Party on whether he will be granted permission to run on the Republican line for re-election.
It has been well-reported that calls from senior, and formerly senior, GOP officials have been made to the five Chairs. One of those reports state that Rudy Giuliani has spoken with Queens Chairman Phil Ragusa, and has called Bronx Chairman Jay Savino. Manhattan Chairwoman Jennifer Saul has also received a call, and indicated that Bloomberg would be a "tough sell," even to Manhattan Republicans.
What has not been reported, according to sources close to the situation, is that in these calls the tone is very matter-of-fact. There has not been the immense pressure that everyone believed would be exerted, but instead the message has been more along the lines of honoring a "commitment to make the call." Sources are saying that former Governor Pataki was more interested in discussing his own political future rather than Bloomberg's and there are even rumors circulating that State GOP Chairman Joe Mondello has called some of the Chairs and encouraged them to stand firm in their resolve against the Mayor - indicating there is no love lost between Mondello and Bloomberg.
The Chairs have affirmed that today's interview is being given out of respect to a sitting Mayor, and that this is the beginning of a very complex process that includes the outcome of a court case, a decision by the Justice Department and pending legislation in Albany that is about to clear through both State Assembly and Senate committees. Any one of these three scenarios could potentially derail the Mayor from being able to run at all, separate from whether or not the Chair allow him the right to run as a Republican.
It is also important to note that "the process" still includes other GOP mayoral hopefuls, including John Catsimatidis and Tom Ognibene - both of whom are likely to be granted the same interview opportunity that Bloomberg is getting today and either of whom is more likely to appeal to the Republican sensibilities of these Chairs (Remember that none of whom were sitting Chairs when the Party originally sold its line to the Billionaire Mayor).
The results of todays meeting likely will not be know for a while. The longer it drags out, though, the worse the Mayor looks to many of the voters of NYC. Yet at the same time, some are starting to suspect that the Mayor's tacit goal may be to stall the "process" long enough so that his potential opponents run out of gas and time - enabling him to be the only option available to the GOP in November by default. As the Chairs meet with him today, many of these issues will more than likely be put on the table. Either way, early reports are starting to make it look less and less likely that NYC's independent Mayor will be getting the right to run on the Republican line this year, potentially leaving Bloomberg up the proverbial creek without a line.
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