You might be surprised how much CLOSER the race will be when people are offered a CHOICE and not an echo. If running candidates that are identical to the liberal 'Rats in every way except for the party label, there no longer needs a reason for the Republican Party to exist.
BTW, that's how the Whigs were done in, too.
Yep, sure, of course, naturally, and that's why, I suppose, that Bill Buckley lost so badly! LOL, LOL, LOL
The last person to run as a conservative and win a statwide election in NY was al D'Amato in 1992. Dennis Vacco did it in 1994 but on some strong national coat tails. Vacco was run out of town 4 years later, though.
A strong conservative alienates most NYers. That's just the truth.