Bill Weld, the guy who got so bored with being Governor of Massachusetts that he quit early to pursue a quixotic, destined-for-failure bid to become US Ambassador to Mexico, has decided that maybe being a Governor wasn’t so bad after all, and maybe he should give it another try. Having left Massachusetts in his rear view mirror, however, he’s now going to give it a shot in New York.
God only knows why Weld thinks this is a good idea. Sure, he had some success as Governor here, but let us recall that the ONLY reason he was elected in 1990 was that the Democrats ran the worst candidate in human history, namely, John Silber, causing lifelong Democrats to run screaming from their party and cross over in droves to vote for Weld – even though most of them had no idea who he was. Eliot Spitzer is no John Silber, and Bill Weld is about as well known in New York now as he was in Massachusetts in 1990. He’s got a long way to go. Plus, what makes him (or, more importantly, New York voters) think that he will find governing New York any less boring than governing Massachusetts apparently was? After all, Albany is a much less interesting town to hang around in than Boston (does Albany even have a squash club, Governor?), and the New York state legislature is probably, if anything, more unpleasant to deal with than the Beantown State House we know and love.
It will be interesting, however, to see how the national GOP reacts to a truly socially moderate candidate like Weld running for a major office in an important state. It will also be interesting to see whether Weld feels any need at least to play nice with, if not necessarily to toe the party line of, the national party. Should have some entertainment value, if nothing else.
It’s not the Republicans that Weld will have a problem with, really. They’re so desperate for a candidate, they’ll take anyone, and there are still a lot of Rockefeller Republicans in NY, though Weld is probably to the left of them on drug issues. No, the problem is that Weld needs to get the support of the NYS Conservative party. No Republican candidate for governor in NY has won the office without the support of the Conservatives in over thirty years. This is not one of those endorsements that no one cares about either, this is an actual line on the ballot. In NY, a candidate can be listed on more than one line on a ballot as a candidate for any party with ballot access, and there are enough people who vote straight line Conservative that Weld, in particular would be toast. That he would not be listed as a Conservative also sends a signal to conservative Republicans and independents that Weld — who they would be naturally suspicious of given he was governor of Massachusetts — is too liberal. Those folks are not going to vote for Weld and might even vote for Spitzer just to spite the snooty Wall St elites who tried to shove Weld down their throats.
What, did you and sco coordinate this morning to write matching posts? grin
Dude, back off of Albany. That’s my old area. (I grew up in Troy.) And yes, they have squash.The legislature in NY is an absolute nightmare — always has been, and seems to be getting even worse, if that’s even possible.
You grew up in Troy? Then you should know how poorly Albany stacks up compared to NYC or Boston, or heck even Providence!And I say this as someone born in Albany and raised just a few miles down Route 4 from you.
Dude, back off of Albany. That’s my old area.I know. đŸ™‚
I just came from .08. I guess great minds really do think alike. :-)I didn’t move to MA until ’97, so I don’t really know much about Weld. I don’t know why Giuliani isn’t running against Spitzer. Giuliani has a much better chance of being Gov. of NY, than he does getting the Republican nomination in ’08. America’s Mayor is just a bit too librul forthe christian right.
I wonder, though, whether Giuliani isn’t running for Vice President. Seems in tension with his “my way or the highway” nature, yet a McCain-Giuliani ticket would be formidable – very tough to beat. The war hero and the hero of 9/11, both with enough crossover appeal to make the Dems’ life truly miserable in the ’08 campaign. Makes retaking at least one chamber of Congress in ’06 absolutely essential.
Jeez, either way, that would be a hard ticket to beat. I wonder though, if either McCain or Giuliani would be too alpha-male to allow being on the bottom, so to speak. đŸ˜›
Thanks for that, David. Appreciate it.Well, I lived in Providence for one year, too. Didn’t like it much. I like Albany. Always have.sco, where was that?
As for McCain-Giuliani: the ’08 prez race is going to depend on who has credibility on Iraq, if we’re still there. Wes Clark vs. that ticket would be a heck of a race.
We will still be there.As for Wes Clark….sure, he looks great on paper, but he has the same credentials now as he did in 04. Yet he never gained any traction in 04, so it’s unclear to me why he’d do so much better in 08. His basic problem seemed to be a lack of political skills despite his gold-plated resume. Can he solve that problem?And as for Albany, OK, you’ve got me on the squash. But are you disagreeing with me that Boston is, on balance, a more interesting place to be than Albany? My admittedly limited experience with capital cities that are not otherwise the economic/cultural/whatever heart of the state is that they tend to feel like company towns where the government is the company. That’s actually how DC felt to me when I lived there, and is part of why I was glad I lived there only for a year.
Oh yeah, we’ll still be in Iraq in ’08.Didn’t Clark get into the race late in ’04? Now that he has a better head start, perhaps he’ll do better? He’s in the lead in the August dKos Straw Poll
Well David… I’m here, aren’t I?Wes Clark is honing his wingnut-handling skills on Fox News. I have little doubt that he will be polished like a shiny penny by ’08.
My sister went to Emma Willard for a bit. My father thought that the rest of Troy looked like down-town Beirut after the bombings.
Well, a lot of Troy is pretty run-down, but things downtown are perking up quite a bit. The Victorian housing stock is quite amazing, and dirt-cheap by MA standards.Apropos of Weld: It would be constructive for him to address upstate economic development in some substantial way. Somehow I imagine that that’s pretty far down his list, though… it usually is for state-wide candidates.
McCain-Giuliani isnt happening. Two moderates on a GOP ticket. No. The base will freak out and stay home or run a third party candidate. As far as Weld, I find it entertaining to watch how the right wingers will act with a carpetbagger on their side, when that’s all we heard when Hilary ran for Senate.
Charley, I’m not sure. Weld has property up in the Adirondacks and there’s a lot of discontent with the APA (Adirondack Park Agency), particularly after the last Executive Director was caught downloading porn on the agency’s dime. If Weld calls to abolish the APA, a lot of conservative upstaters will forgive his social liberalism.I was in NY this weekend, and I have to tell you that no one has heard of Weld there. That gives NY Dems an opening to define him as an unserious candidate and comb through his term here in MA and look for dirt.For the curious, I grew up in East Greenbush, NY, about 130 miles or so down rt. 20 from where I live now.