Just think, if that clown Lazio ran even a half-decent campaign in 2000, we wouldn't be here now.
That was precisely the problem.
The Republican party in NY sate is totally disfunctional.
Much of the blame can go to Pataki as he made no provision to develop talent.
I was just a low-level, part-time volunteer for the Lazio campaign in NYC at the time, but I maintain that Rick Lazio himself (I met him and spoke with him several times) was a very decent "good guy". He had a 66% ACU rating when he left Congress, and probably would've made a fine senator for NY. From what I saw and heard at the various NYC HQs, his campaign was very badly run.
One example: His campaign made a stop in Poughkeepsie, NY in September 2000 for a "rally". Apparently his campaign people (or... somebody) alerted the local politicians at the very last minute that he would be appearing there, and there was no advance notice given to any of the local media about his appearance. He was supposed to give a rousing speech, along with some of these local officials, who were just alerted at the last minute about the event. His giant campaign bus parked in a dilapidated and abandoned part of Poughkeepsie, and he and the other Congresswoman (name escapes me now) gave their speeches. There must've been 10 people in the crowd, and half of us were his volunteers - it was awful. This happened in several other cities around NY - Buffalo in particular - from what I remember hearing from other FReepers and Lazio volunteers. Sad.