Posted on 10/23/2002 10:49:56 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Gov. Pataki used the gay rights issue to pull an October surprise yesterday as a key Republican leader vowed finally to pass a long-stalled bill banning discrimination against homosexuals. The move - which came two weeks before Election Day - was dismissed as a "little gimmick" by Carl McCall, who saw his thunder stolen by the Republicans as he stumped with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
The bill, passed by the majority Democratic-dominated Assembly, has been bottled up for 30 years in the Republican-controlled Senate - angering gay and lesbian groups, which normally tilt Democratic.
By vowing passage now, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) hoped to give a political lift to his fellow Republican Pataki, who supports the measure but faced criticism because he could never push it through the chamber.
The move achieved its intended effect: The Empire State Pride Agenda, a leading gay rights advocacy group, quickly credited Pataki for the breakthrough.
"I do think the governor's leadership has been critical in bringing about this," said Executive Director Matt Foreman.
The group may make an endorsement on Friday.
Asked about Bruno's promise, McCall replied, "If that's true, these people really have no principles, do they?"
"For eight years, George Pataki has been promising it, Joe Bruno has been stopping it," said McCall, the state controller. "Now, what, two weeks before an election ... all of a sudden Joe Bruno and George Pataki come up with a little gimmick to try to buy off an endorsement? Most of the endorsements they have, they bought."
Pataki aide Mollie Fullington dismissed McCall's comments as "more desperate attacks from an increasingly hysterical candidate."
Bruno said when the Senate reconvenes in December, it also will take up an overhaul of the Rockefeller drug laws - another delayed reform that has put Pataki on the hot seat.
Daschle's visit - part of a parade of national Democrats expected here - intensified McCall's end game of rallying Democrats with issues appealing to the party's rank and file.
It's a common Democratic strategy, but McCall's task has been made more urgent by Pataki's inroads among Democratic voters.
Comparing Georges
Outside a W. 78th St. school, McCall, Daschle and other Democrats framed the race as a choice between Republican and Democratic ideology, saying Pataki and President Bush are of the same mind when it comes to funding education.
"New York and Washington both have Republican leaders by the first name of George who talk a good line but are unwilling to make the commitment," Daschle said.
State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) even cited Pataki's role in the Florida recount after the 2000 presidential race.
"If you're a Democrat ... just remember, this is a guy who went to Florida to shut down the counting of votes so that George Bush could become President," he said. McCall said he agreed.
Former President Bill Clinton will join McCall at a Washington Heights rally today - the first of several planned joint appearances, including tonight's $1 million fund-raiser, which also features Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Pataki opened a Bronx health-care center and attended a ceremony marking the start of construction of a Times Square building. He is to get endorsements from the city's police and fire unions today and will have his own high-profile fund-raiser tonight - a $300,000 cocktail party in former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's new home.
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