Posted on 06/02/2005 2:53:34 PM PDT by neverdem
The general assumption among New York Democrats is that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will be the party's candidate for governor next year. He announced his bid in December and has been busy raising millions and building alliances to reclaim the office for the Democrats for the first time in 12 years.
But, to the delight of Republicans and annoyance of Spitzer allies, another Democrat has recently confided to prominent party members that he is preparing to run, arguing that his profile as a suburban Italian Catholic moderate and reform-minded Albany outsider would make him a strong candidate in both New York's cities and suburbs.
That Democrat is Thomas R. Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, who defied most expectations with his upset victory in 2001 in a Republican stronghold. Mr. Suozzi has told friends and allies that he believes support for Mr. Spitzer's candidacy is shallow.
While Mr. Suozzi says he has not made a final decision, the idea of challenging Mr. Spitzer, whose political camp wants to avoid such a primary fight, is revealing about Mr. Suozzi's calculations.
Casting aside urban liberalism, Mr. Suozzi is making the case that the party's future is in suburbs, where he has used his county seat as a pulpit for such statewide issues as reining in property taxes and Medicaid costs.
Many New Yorkers have never heard of Mr. Suozzi, but he is well known, and controversial, among Democratic Party elders and county machine leaders who are crucial in any statewide race.
He began the year with $3.2 million in his political account, less than half of Mr. Spitzer's war chest, and has been laying the groundwork for a statewide race by giving speeches across upstate, deepening ties with other county leaders, being the host of political events and donating to Democrats far beyond...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Never happen. Spitzer is a lock.
FYI..the article is all wrong. Suozzi is NOT going to run a bloody, and expensive primary against Spitzer. What Suozzi wants is a promise from Spitzer than he will appoint him to the vacant Senate seat should Hillary win the WH..Suozzi is a comer in the party, but all the state wide slots will be locked up for years..He's hit a wall..
Oh my freaking gawd. Heck no. NO.
The best thing about Suozzi is that he is not Tom Gulotta.
good point
Oh, good. A bloody dem primary to kick off the election season. Sounds too good to be true. I am sure there is a catch somewhere.
Sounds like the best skunk at the dem's garden party that I heard in a while. The dem party needs primaries if they want to keep their name.
What's wrong with Suozzi, Cyborg? You're in Nassau, right?
He's a slug but not as big a slug as Spitzer. And it would get him out of Nassau County and we could put the carousal on the South Shore, where it belongs.
Too much taxes... same old story and appointing a lady who admitted her whole family was in this country illegally.
but its the school taxes and medicaid mandates that are hurting nassau. the municipal portion of the property tax is actually reasonable. this was one problem Gulotta had, he did hold down county municipal taxes, but got zero credit for it, because school taxes were zooming at the same time and most residents see no difference between the two. If the republican party in nassau ran against the corruption in the public education system here - fraud, theft, salaries and pensions out of control - they could win again.
If a republican cleans house in the Village of Hempstead school district, I will change my mind about voting republican.
That makes him more desirable as them dem nominee.8^)
True :-)
(Disclosure: Clemenza grew up right next to Westwood Park).
I'm in Nassau County too. Town of Hempstead.
I voted against Gulotta and for Suozzi. First & last time I ever voted for a democrat.
And guess what? My taxes still went up. A lot.
He wants to put it on the North Shore, probably for all his old Glen Cove friends who don't travel south of Jericho.
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