Posted on 03/08/2005 8:43:09 AM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - At first glance, they are nearly as odd a pair as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in the movie ``Twins'' -- the brawny, charismatic governor of California and the gangly, low-key governor of New York.
But Schwarzenegger and New York Gov. George Pataki, the leaders of two of the nation's most populous states and among the highest-profile Republican moderates, have developed a relationship that has political benefits for both of them.
Monday night, Pataki again helped Schwarzenegger raise money in New York City, a role he first took on just days after Schwarzenegger launched his gubernatorial campaign in the summer of 2003. Pataki organized a fundraiser for Californians for Schwarzenegger at Manhattan's chic 21 Club.
The two attended the fundraiser after Schwarzenegger, for the second year in a row, headlined the New York County Republican Committee's Lincoln Day Dinner.
``I love Governor Pataki because he gave me a full and unconditional pardon for my movie that I made here in New York, `Hercules in New York,' '' Schwarzenegger told the approximately 500 attending the $1,000-a-plate dinner. ``And I also told him that if he doesn't help me with the fundraising that he's going to have to see it 13 times in a row. He immediately helped.''
For Schwarzenegger, the relationship has allowed him to plug into Pataki's extensive fundraising connections in New York. In return, Pataki, whose popularity is low in his home state, gets a top attraction for his own state party functions and the benefit of basking in Schwarzenegger's celebrity glow.
The real payoff for Pataki could come if he decides to run for president in 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
New York City's fund raising shenanigans mean nothing in the real world outside the City. Out here in the boonies in the rest of the state Pataki, whose wimpy leadership has led to the decimation NYS's economy and thrown most hard working people to the wolves, is reviled as a tax and spend liberal (by conservatives) and tolerated as a manipulable fool by lieberals.
There is a meltdown going on NYS and it's laughable to consider Pataki for anything past his tenure in Albany.
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