Posted on 09/24/2010 2:33:30 PM PDT by Lauren BaRecall
New York Republican leaders want former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio to end his campaign for governor after losing his party's primary to tea party favorite Carl Paladino.
Lazio continues to have the support of the state's Conservative Party and could run as its gubernatorial candidate in November.
(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegassun.com ...
Lazio is whoring himself big time right now...
Ping!
Conservative ticket? what?
You bet! Listen to the Gambling interview. Gambling is pro Paladino, and he does not accept the Lazio career politician blah blah.
Lazio = Selfish arse who bent over and spread it for Hillary! during the 2000 elections.
It’s amazing how conceding primary defeat and endorsing your opponent is only for conservative candidates.
The conservatives want to keep their line and Mike Long and Paladino loathe each other. They will keep Loosio on the ballot to drain votes from Paladino and keep their line on the ballot.
NYS has a Conservative Party. Lazio ran against someone in the Conservative Primary and won the line.
Lazio will not get 50,000 votes on the C line.
Goodbye C line for 4 years.
Can we not say that this is a common trait among losing Republicans? Maybe we have only touched the bottom of the barrel. Corruption seems to be as corrupt in the Republican Party as it is in the Democratic Party.
Yes, I said Corruption! They only thirst after power and privilege... A common trait among politicians.
Once upon a time, the top four parties in New York State were the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Liberal parties. The L.P. has fallen off a bit, and I think they are behind the Green Party now (but OTOH the Right-to-Life party is no longer on the ballot).
No Republican has ever won statewide office (gov, AG, senator, whatever) without the backing of the Conservative party (which is not a guarantee of success to have it).
Lazio had the CP line locked up weeks ago. So it's a 3-way race, which makes the 6% poll difference a bogus statistic. According to that poll, Lazio (and all the other candidates) were at a combined 2%. Not true.
The Conservative party has people that will not cross over to the GOP. And the governor's race is the one that determines if they will stay on the ballot for the next four years, or if they'll have to canvass for signatures to get on the ballot (like what happened to the Right to Life party).
Now, Paladino does have the backing of a second line (and so does Cuomo), but I couldn't tell you the stats for that party, or if it will be enough to make the difference.
That said, I believe that Lazio realizes that he can only be a spoiler at this point, and may back out of the race. If he is leaning in that direction, it's best to let him do it gracefully, and not antagonize the man.
Lazio in the race makes Paladino's job that much harder.
People calling Lazio bad things will not help Paladino's case.
When Rick Lazio was out on Long Island, he actually had a conservative reputation. Then, unfortunately, he blew it in the race against hillary, partly because he took on a gang of McCain advisers to help him, and they hadn’t the least idea how to run a race in New York.
So, Lazio wasn’t a bad guy earlier. But at this point it would be best if he bows out and avoids being a spoiler.
Also, you can’t really blame the Conservative Party for putting him on their line. They usually go with the Republican candidate as long as he’s pro-life and reasonably conservative by NY standards. And they naturally thought, back then, that Lazio would be the Republican candidate.
Lazio would make a lot of friends if on Monday morning he stood down and called on Christ, Murkowski and Castle to stand down too and support the GOP candidate in their states. This would do him far more good than anything he could get from staying in this race.
Please contact me if you’re interested in being added on or taken off the Carl Paladino for Governor ping list. This looks to be a fairly high volume ping list for a while, probably until the election.
Lazio is Andys buddy, who’s he kidding. This is another MerCOWski ploy. BRING IT ON YOUR ONLY GETTING US MORE PISSED OFF!
That’s the broad (and principled) view. IMO, he’s looking for the best deal.
Lazio’s just nailing down his true-blue RINO credentials.
The original theory was to keep the GOP honest, always an honorable goal. The party was formed to oppose the Rockefeller, Goodell quisling sort of "Republican." The Conservative Party had boots on the ground to fight the mega money behind the Rockefeller GOP.
Just what has Mike Long and his leadership accomplished??? He looks to me on the outside like nothing more than a clubhouse curmudgeon politico with a tiny piece of the action, the retention of which is far more important to him than the well-being of New York or our nation. Lazio is a nothing, a nebbish, a distraction, a useless nobody with no observable excuse for seeking office. He is a pro-abort (which NEVER would have been tolerated in early NY Conservative Party circles) and has no problem with social revolutionary family-killing, baby-killing policies. He did a pathetic job running against her Imperial Thighness for the Senate. That is not merely because he lost but because he did such a bad job as a candidate.
Not only should Lazio get out of this campaign but Long should resign as party chairman as well. He is to J. Daniel Mahoney's memory what Christopher Buckley is to Bill's memory. Find and institutionalize new party leadership for the Conservative Party morally and intellectually qualified to lead in a creative and principled fashion and not willing to serve as handmaidens to the generally corrupt NY GOP.
Give Palladino the Conservative Party nomination after Lazio resigns. If that does not sit well with the Conservative Party, tear up the party and start over. Or relentlessly primary the NYCP established powers until they are driven out.
Also, the message of this year is that politicians like Lazio and Long have to worry about offending the voters. The voters need not worry about offending the politicians.
Lazio needs to understand that is the way the best deal will come to him.
Thanks for your excellent post.
IMO, the Conservative Party has outlived its purpose, and it’s time to take back the Republican Party, just like in the rest of the states.
RINOs have a hard time understanding anything that’s related to principles.
Thanks. It’s been about 25 years since I lived in Westchester, so I’m out of touch. As you say, the Conservative Party used to be a force for good. Their chief mission was to help keep the Republican Party honest. And they were pretty staunch on basic stuff like the right to life.
They were set up as the opposite of the Liberal Party, whose job was to ensure that Democrats were pulled to the left.
Lazio is the perpetual politician. ENOUGH ALREADY!
I live in Yonkers - Westchester is the worst!
I’m pissed.
About a year ago, I changed my party status here in New York, leaving the RINO’s to join the Conservative Party. Had I known that this year would have turned out the way it did, (I certainly HOPED that it would), I never would have done so.
I knew Lazio. We lived in the same town, went to the same school. I like the guy. Who wouldn’t? He’s a sweetie. He would do MUCH better in sales than he’s done in politics, that’s for sure.
I’m switching back to the (R)’s for this election. Palladino, all the way.
I guess sore loser rinos got the message that we will bring down the GOP before we turn it over to any more Rino rule.
According to what I read, it’s pretty bad, but then, the whole state needs reform.
There are a bunch of GOP County Committees that really like Paladino, and have come out to back him. Good for us.
Another example of GOP insiders that exploit the constituency and system.
I know little about this guy, Mike Long, but I’m under the impression he’s not that interested in a GOP victory unless his personal needs are satisfied.
thanks, bfl
How is Lazio a RINO?
He’s not pro life and he’s for gun control. When he was a Congressman, he sponsored the first bill regarding a voluntary cap and trade program. He also voted for more section 8 vouchers. He was in favor of affirmative action in college admissions.
He voted in favor of a lot of government programs (expansion of government and govt. spending).
How did he end up on the Conservative party line in NY then? And why don’t they pull his name and go with a more conservative nominee?
God knows. Ask Mike Long. IMHO, it's another lesser of two evils argument. That said, I'll vote on the Conservative line as much as possible. I used to be registered with them, but I switched to vote in GOP primaries. I'd like to see the Conservatives keep their line in the general election.
How is he the perpetual politician?
He ran in 2000. And then he tried again in 2010.
Hardly a perennial candidate.
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