Road to the White House starts in NY
New Yorkers at center of 2008 presidential buzz
By Emerson Clarridge, Craig Gordon, Glenn Thrush and Bryan Virasami
Newsday Staff Writers
To be sure, New Yorkers have launched bids for the presidency before.
New York City Mayor John Lindsay and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller unsuccessfully sought the nomination in the 1960s.
Several candidates who were born or were in politics in the Empire State did make it to the White House. They include Martin Van Buren, who took office in 1837; Millard Fillmore, who became president in 1850; Chester A. Arthur, who took office in 1881; Grover Cleveland, who was elected in 1884 and 1892; Teddy Roosevelt, who became president in 1901; and his fifth cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms beginning in 1932.
As the 2008 presidential cycle gets under way, it is unusual, though, that the state has four prospective candidates. And it would be unprecedented if, in the end, all of them remain in the race until the nominating conventions. Many political observers think it's a long shot. -- Emerson Clarridge
Rudy Giuliani
Can a thrice-married New Yorker on the wrong side of his party on the Big Three -- gays, guns and God -- really get elected to the White House?
Rudolph Giuliani wants to find out.
By all accounts, "America's mayor" is looking at becoming America's president, and he's taking carefully calculated steps to set up a campaign.
Giuliani has been scooping up sorely needed national talent to bolster his City Hall brain-trust, including a Bush-Cheney campaign honcho.
He held one confab with Republican money-types and is planning another to crack open the checkbooks Dec. 19. And he visited a California think-tank for foreign-policy tutoring.
Even without lifting a finger this summer, Giuliani consistently polled even with or ahead of John McCain, the Arizona senator. But while Giuliani is just now moving to run, McCain has been working for months on a 50-state organization.
Giuliani also risks being outpaced by new conservative heartthrob Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts governor.
Giuliani is riding high on 9/11 name recognition, and some believe that alone can take him far into the race -- perhaps if only as McCain's running mate.
If Giuliani did get the GOP nod, it could set up a Rudy-vs.-Hillary matchup that would be like the Subway Series of presidential politics.
But count on Giuliani foes to point out other parts of his record that won't sit well with hard-right and evangelical Christian voters in places like South Carolina.
He will have to explain support for gay rights, abortion rights and gun control, as well as what some may see as a less-than-godly personal life, with a messy divorce marked by allegations of an extramarital affair. -- Craig Gordon
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
If she's not running, she's walking as fast as she can.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was supposed to engage in a slow rollout of her presidential campaign this month, but the New York Democrat seems to have speeded things up, possibly to deal with the looming threat posed by emerging star Barack Obama.
Technically, she's not committed to a run. But like her beloved Chicago Cubs in baseball's winter meetings, Clinton has gone on a hiring spree, tapping a national fundraising director, a sharp-elbowed spokesman to go with her coterie of other sharp-elbowed spokesmen, a national field director, and a campaign manager.
Clinton aides claim she hasn't been flustered by Obama's flirtation with a run, but some supporters have privately taken to slipping some salt into the sugar when it comes to the freshman Illinois senator.
"Do you know what his middle name is?" one booster asked recently. (Answer: "Hussein!")
A nationwide Fox poll shows Obama trailing Clinton 33 percent to 12 percent among registered Democrats. Al Gore and John Edwards poll 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
But those numbers are meaningless if Clinton can't win some early primaries. She began courting officials for 2008 about 10 days ago when she met with New York politicians. By the middle of last week, she'd gone national, letting slip that she was bringing to Washington key Democrats from New Hampshire and Iowa to discuss a possible bid.
The next step for Clinton would be to create a presidential exploratory committee. Curiously, the only organization Clinton has created recently is a Senate committee for 2012, according to federal filings. -- Glenn Thrush
Gov. George Pataki
That outgoing Gov. George Pataki is merely considering a presidential bid didn't stop him from making yet another trip last week to New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary.
Pataki is expected to make his decision in the next few weeks, spokeswoman Alicia Preston said Friday. "He's been spending time weighing the options with his family," she said.
Pataki hosted a lunch Wednesday for Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire on his 12th trip this year to that state.
Bad weather forced him to cancel a trip to Iowa, which he has visited nine times this year.
Although Pataki lost three key Republican advisers in Iowa last month, he opened a campaign office in a suburb of Des Moines and named a new leader for his political action committee, a former political director for Vice President Dick Cheney.
A moderate Republican who supports abortion rights and gay marriage, Pataki has been criticized by conservatives for state spending increases. But he has said his "vision and a proven record of leadership" could help him win.
According to a WNBC/Marist Poll last week, Pataki had 1 percent support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led the poll with 24 percent, and Arizona Sen. John McCain was a close second with 23 percent.
Michael Dawidziak, a Bohemia political consultant who works mostly with Republicans, agreed Pataki would be a long shot. But he added, "He's run against the odds before. He was elected governor of a blue state that's got 2 million more Democrats than Republicans."
Some observers speculate that Pataki is keeping his name in circulation to be considered as a vice presidential running mate. -- Emi Endo
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Mayor Michael Bloomberg insists he's not a candidate for the White House but is confident he would make a good president. He plans to focus on philantrophy after City Hall, he has said, and yet he has declined to rule out a run for president.
Often described as a firm and decisive executive, Bloomberg prefers to ride the wave of speculation about whether he will run.
While he has denied he would change his mind about running, Bloomberg's contradictory comments in a New York magazine cover story last week suggested his staff members aren't the only ones dreaming of Washington.
"The answer is yes," he said when asked if he would be a good president. He also criticized the partisan environment in Washington, suggesting that someone with middle-of-the-road views would be an asset.
Political observers say he could free up $500 million of his own funds to run as an independent.
"He's not running for president," spokesman Stu Loeser said Friday. But on Thursday night, at a staff party at Gracie Mansion, there was food, drink and presidential fantasy.
Dressed as Bruce Springsteen with a white T-shirt and blue jeans, Bloomberg reportedly was joined by costumed deputy mayors and aides singing a takeoff on "Born to Run."
"Baby we were born to run! We'll win, you'll see -- and beat the GOP and Democrats. Unite the country -- make more jobs. And banish all trans fat! Fix the schools -- make profits grow. Get the White House painted saffron by Christo."
Loeser said the song was "an inside joke intended only for the mayor's staff." -- Bryan Virasami
here's hoping
