hopefully schwuler, poster boy for the peter principal, has reached his highest level of incompetence...
Posted on 11/15/2004 7:47:51 PM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - Senator Charles E. Schumer on Monday ruled out running for governor of New York in 2006, saying that he would instead help lead the Democratic Party's efforts to retake the Senate.
Mr. Schumer's decision reshapes the political landscape in New York and leaves the field open to Eliot Spitzer, the popular Democratic state attorney general, who has been gearing up for the campaign. Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, has not said whether he will seek a fourth term.
Mr. Schumer, 53, who was just re-elected to a second term with a record 71 percent of the vote, made his decision to stay in Washington after seriously considering a jump to Albany, in part because of the diminished role of Democrats in the Senate.
But top Democrats vigorously campaigned to keep him in Washington, promising him a spot on the powerful Finance Committee and persuading him to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee through the midterm elections of 2006.
With his decision to stay in Washington, New York Democrats will avoid a divisive 2006 primary between two of the most popular politicians in the state: Mr. Schumer is a proven vote getter and prodigious fund-raiser, and Mr. Spitzer, 45, has earned a national reputation by taking on the financial services and insurance industries.
"Schumer's decision is a great development for New York State Democrats for two reasons," said Sheldon Silver, speaker of the Assembly and the de facto leader of the state party. "It means one of our own is clearly on the rise in Washington, and it means there won't be a $60 million bloodbath of a primary, making it harder to prevail in the fall of '06 for governor. It is a major and clarifying moment for state politics and Democratic electoral politics."
Mr. Schumer's new appointments in Washington raise his standing at a time when Northeastern liberals have become politically marginalized and New York's largely Democratic delegation in Washington finds itself sidelined in Congress.
"It elevates him to the top ranks,'' said Howard Wolfson, a Democratic political strategist who has advised New York lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "He is now simultaneously occupying two of the biggest seats at the Democratic table.''
In an interview, Mr. Schumer said he was looking forward to the challenge now before him, particularly after the elections this month, when Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate with a net gain of four seats, giving them 55 of the Senate's 100 seats.
"We are at a crossroads both internationally and domestically, and to have an enhanced role in figuring out how we as a party and as a nation navigate these shoals is as exciting as it is vital,'' he said. "And the importance to our party of electing more Democrats to the Senate in 2006 is obvious in light of the results of the recent election."
In addition to his seat on the Finance Committee, Mr. Schumer will keep his role on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he has become the Democrats' point person in opposing some of the Bush administration's judicial nominees and where Democrats are girding for a possible fight over Supreme Court appointments.
As head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Mr. Schumer will have an instant national platform, with control over a huge campaign war chest and a direct hand in shaping the Democratic agenda on Capitol Hill.
In many crucial respects, he was a logical choice for the job, political strategists say. Not only did Mr. Schumer win re-election by a historic margin, but he did so with roughly one-third of the Republican vote in New York, underscoring what many strategists say is his keen eye for issues with bipartisan appeal.
More than that, though, Mr. Schumer was able to amass more money than any other Senate candidate - roughly $26 million for a race in which he faced no serious opposition.
Mr. Schumer has been particularly adept at tapping a network of donors on Wall Street as well as other players in New York's securities and banking industry. Democrats are clearly hoping he can do the same for the party.
"Senator Schumer is tough, focused and a formidable fund-raiser,'' said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be elected minority leader this month. "We need him on our leadership team.''
As for New York, Mr. Schumer's decision to stay in Washington rapidly transformed the local political terrain, with Democrats being generally relieved about avoiding a bruising and costly gubernatorial primary and Republicans feeling disappointed.
"A primary would have been great,'' said State Senator Michael A. L. Balboni, a Republican from Long Island who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor in 2006 should Mr. Pataki not run.
Mr. Schumer's decision seems to be the final piece the state Democrats were looking for as they try to rebuild their hold on power., 10 years after Mario Cuomo lost his bid for a fourth term.
Should Mr. Spitzer run for governor in 2006, he still faces the possibility of a primary from the Nassau County executive, Thomas R. Suozzi, who has promoted a fix-Albany campaign with mixed results, but Mr. Suozzi's bid would be a long shot, political analysts said.
Mr. Schumer's decision also opens the field for a possible political comeback for Andrew Cuomo, a former federal cabinet secretary who abandoned his run for governor during a messy primary in 2000, and Mark Green, who lost in his bid for mayor in 2001. Both have said they are considering a run for attorney general should Mr. Spitzer run for governor.
The potential field of attorney general candidates also includes Richard L. Brodsky, an assemblyman from Westchester, and Michael N. Gianaris, an assemblyman from Queens.
The pressure on Mr. Schumer to stay in Washington was great. It was, in fact, Mr. Reid who phoned Mr. Schumer on Nov. 8 and urged him to take the helm of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee through the midterm elections, according to Congressional officials.
In that conversation, Mr. Reid also offered Mr. Schumer a seat on the powerful Finance Committee.
Mr. Schumer has made no secret of his desire to join that committee, mindful that the last New Yorker to serve on it, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to use the position to funnel billions of dollars to the state, particularly to its economically beleaguered hospitals.
"I have dreamed of getting on the Finance Committee since I got to the Senate,'' Mr. Schumer said on Monday.
Now, with Mr. Schumer's moving up in Washington, with Senator Hillary Clinton talked about as a potential presidential candidate, and with Mr. Spitzer freed from a costly primary, New York Democrats may well find themselves at the forefront of the party's efforts to rebuild and redefine itself, political observers said.
"Now that America has gone red, New York has special strength because we are both blue and talented," said Mr. Green.
Raymond Hernandez reported for this article from Washington and Michael Slackman from Albany.
--snip--
Mr. Schumer has been particularly adept at tapping a network of donors on Wall Street as well as other players in New York's securities and banking industry. Democrats are clearly hoping he can do the same for the party.
"Senator Schumer is tough, focused and a formidable fund-raiser,'' said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be elected minority leader this month. "We need him on our leadership team."
This could be a blessing in disguise for the pubbies nationally. Chuck probably collected the bulk of his donations before Spitzer attacked Wall Street and the insurance industry. Chuck could wind up hurting dem senators in the "red" states because he's so "mainstream" in his own mind, i.e. socialist. When are the pubbies taking back their traditional color, blue?
But, he'll bend over for Junior Senator Hillary.
Translation: Schumer will be running for Governor. As a senator, he already assumes he should be president.
BTW: It was the Leftist media who switched the "colors", always image-managing for their socialist friends, the democrats. Confusing the political discussion through manipulation of the language can be found in any Communism 101 textbook.
The call went out to my combined list. I've been pinged from those I've pinged.
Wow thats insane!
I doubt it. Schumer's smart enough to know he could never win national office. He's crossed too many on the right for all sorts of reasons. Until September 11, 2001, he was Mr. Uber Liberal. His behavior since then gained him the endorsement of the NY Post. It won't wash in flyover country.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
The real reason Schumer isn't running for Governor is that he got an adverse ruling that he can't use his left over Senate money for the governor's race.
So he wuld have to start a new campaign fund fron scratch and becuase of that he is well behind others in the fundraising race.
Do you have a link to that story?
No I don't but I remember reading it a few weeks ago maybe in the N.Y. Post.
Barney Frank collected all sorts of funds anticipating a run for Kerry's open seat when Kerry beat Bush. Since then I distinctly remember hearing that lollypop doesn't have to return the donations for that supposedly open seat. I don't see why putzhead can't use the funds as he pleases other than for purely personal use.
Yea, yea. And Bill Clinton promised he would not run for president if re-elected as governor of Arkansas.
hopefully schwuler, poster boy for the peter principal, has reached his highest level of incompetence...
FWIW, this vile POS had a big write-up in the "paper of record" some years ago. It said he had a perfect SAT score. He plays NY like a violin.
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