Pataki Nod Is Delayed by Mayor

Mayor Bloomberg’s potential presidential aspirations are now taking their toll on actual candidates. Even as Mayor Giuliani and the other Republican candidates court George Pataki, the former New York governor is staying on the sidelines in part because Mr. Bloomberg is viewed as increasingly likely to run.“He’s a billionaire, he’s the mayor of New York City, they’re actually friends — not exactly a bridge you burn lightly,” observed one political insider who is familiar with the politics behind the pressure on Mr. Pataki.While Mr. Bloomberg operates in the shadows, the declared candidates are eagerly trying to line up support. Messrs. Giuliani and Pataki are scheduled to have lunch in the next couple of weeks, and the expectation is that Mr. Giuliani will tell Mr. Pataki in person what he’s been telling him over the phone for months: He wants Mr. Pataki to endorse him for president.This is about more than just winning Mr. Pataki’s explicit support — there’s probably not much Mr. Pataki can do directly for Mr. Giuliani, given they hail from the same state and most voters who might be swayed at all by Mr. Pataki are entirely familiar with Mr. Giuliani. But Mr. Giuliani risks a blow to his central credentials on safety and security if his partner in the September 11 recovery efforts actually declares one of the other candidates would be a better president.Mr. Pataki has been flirting with all of the Republican contenders, including a recent meeting with Governor Romney and a visit to Senator Thompson’s home. Even Senator McCain is in play, an irony because Mr. McCain actually sued Mr. Pataki in 2000 when Mr. Pataki tried keeping Mr. McCain off the New York Republican primary ballot to help George W. Bush become President Bush.Mr. Giuliani has the inside track on Mr. Pataki’s endorsement in part because they’re from the same party and overlapped in office for seven years. Yet in many ways they couldn’t be more different, both as people and as politicians.“In a sense it’s already a bad story for Giuliani that Pataki has not endorsed him,” observed one Republican insider. “But anyone who understands the history understands why this is a tough call for Pataki.”That history begins October 24, 1994, when Mr. Giuliani — one year into his term as the first Republican New York City mayor in decades — snubbed Mr. Pataki by endorsing Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, for governor. To say Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Pataki were enemies isn’t much of an exaggeration.The September 11 attacks — followed immediately by unimaginable situations, endless funerals and a patriotic surge — did bring Mr. Pataki and Mr. Giuliani together as friends, even if their staffs still held grudges from 1994. Mr. Giuliani took the lead in the government response, with Mr. Pataki by his side throughout the tough judgment calls and key decisions, documented in countless photographs, beginning immediately after the Twin Towers fell. I remember covering the first press conference at the ad hoc Police Academy “bunker” soon after the attacks, the first time Giuliani and Pataki stood side-by-side without a hint of the inescapable tension that had defined their governing partnership until then.At the time, Mr. Giuliani was a lame-duck mayor with sinking approval ratings while Mr. Pataki’s inner circle was not so quietly whispering about the presidency in 2008 after Mr. Pataki’s buddy George W. Bush would be finishing a second term as president. But Mr. Giuliani’s remarkable response to September 11 won him back the support and appreciation of the city he ran, and catapulted him to nearly official recognition as “America’s Mayor.” And Mr. Pataki’s fade into political wallpaper would mirror Mr. Giuliani’s ascent into the national arena, almost as if the country’s attention span could include just one New York Republican at a time.Mr. Pataki was supposed to be the Republican from New York with a shot at the White House, yet now finds himself on the sidelines and under pressure to support the fellow Republican who nearly derailed his political career by supporting his Democratic opponent. Call this irony, tragedy or just bizarre — pick your word and that explains why Mr. Pataki is reluctant. Add in Mr. Bloomberg’s machinations, and that explains why Mr. Pataki is happy to remain silent.The campaigns will argue that Mr. Pataki can’t officially make an endorsement until his term as a United Nations “public delegate” ends when the New Year begins. But that’s really irrelevant to what’s going on.Mr. Giuliani won’t leave lunch with Mr. Pataki’s endorsement, but the odds are eventually in Mr. Giuliani’s favor. After all, Mr. Pataki knows a Republican ticket with Giuliani on top will help Republicans keep control of the state Senate where he once served. And as a lifelong Republican who harbors visions of his own political comeback, Mr. Pataki is unlikely to endorse an independent candidate.goldincolumn@gmail.com

Pataki Nod Is Delayed by Mayor

Pataki Nod Is Delayed by Mayor

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