The Republican Party will meet today to decide who is best equipped to challenge Eliot Spitzer for governor of New York. Conservatives in the GOP have accused Bill Weld as too liberal and not a “Reagan Republican.” They should take a close look at Mr. Weld’s record on base issues – crime, taxes, welfare and limited government. They’ll see he’s about as conservative as you can get, and the only Republican who can seriously challenge Mr. Spitzer.

In 1980, Mr. Weld was the Massachusetts chairman of Illinois Congressman Philip Crane’s campaign for president. Mr. Crane, a staunch free trader, tax cutter, and right-wing Republican, was even more conservative than Ronald Reagan on some issues. In 1988, Mr. Weld supported a New York congressman, Jack Kemp, a doctrinaire fiscal conservative, over George H.W. Bush.

On criminal justice issues, you’d be hard pressed to find a more conservative prosecutor. In 1981,Rudolph Giuliani, then a senior official in the Justice Department, recommended that President Reagan appoint Mr. Weld the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. As New England’s top Federal law enforcement official, Mr. Weld gained national recognition as a crime fighter. He won convictions in 109 out of 111 political corruption cases and vigorously targeted organized crime rings and white collar crimes involving financial institutions.

Based on his record, in 1986, Reagan brought Mr. Weld to Washington to run the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, which is responsible for all Federal investigations and prosecutions by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Mr. Weld was at the center of Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign against drugs and violent crime and oversaw some of the most important prosecutions of the Reagan administration, including the capture of Manuel Noriega for drug trafficking.

On fiscal policy, like Reagan, Mr. Weld didn’t want government to do more with less; he just wanted government to do less. Behind his anti-tax convictions is his longstanding belief that there’s no such thing as government money, only taxpayer’s money. He said in 1998, “Government is bad when it takes more than 30% of a taxpayer’s income in taxes. Proudhon was wrong when he said property is theft; it’s our Federal budget that is institutionalized theft.”

As governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Weld succeeded in closing a $1.3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes or borrowing from Wall Street. He cut taxes 19 times, balanced six budgets, reduced the average growth of Medicaid to 4% from 17%, lowered the growth of state debt to 7% from 16%, and reduced the growth in group insurance costs for public employees to 3% from 16%. In 1997, the year Mr. Weld left office, it took 15,000 fewer state workers to run the government’s operations than it did in 1988.

On welfare reform, another key issue for conservatives, Mr. Weld wants to give welfare recipients a push so that someday they can pull. “We want to make the safety net a trampoline as opposed to a hammock,” he commented as governor before signing the boldest and most far reaching welfare reform law in the country, which required able bodied recipients to go work or lose their cash benefits. The law was so dramatic that in April 1995, before the legislation became law, welfare caseloads experienced the largest monthly drop in 14 years.

New York conservatives have expressed concern that Mr. Weld is too liberal on social issues – namely abortion and gay rights – to represent the state GOP. But by not supporting Mr. Weld, Republicans risk cutting off their nose to spite their face.

A former New York Assemblyman, John Faso, who narrowly lost the race for state comptroller in 2002, is running for governor and is more conservative than Mr. Weld. But New York is a Blue State where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost 2-to-1. Mr. Spitzer isn’t an unknown Democrat in the Assembly running for statewide office, as Alan Hevesi was in 2002.

Randy Daniels, another Republican, is also running. He has a lot of government experience, having served as New York’s secretary of state since 2001. He has been appointed to many prominent boards and commissions, but has never been tested in a campaign for statewide office, or any public office. His ability to raise $50 million to be competitive is questionable.

Tom Golisano, the businessman from upstate New York, is also mentioned. He ran three times for governor of New York as an independent, but recently changed his registration to Republican. He can spend millions of his own money on the race, but lacks a record on which to run and has angered many Republicans over his criticism against Mr. Pataki in the past. His sudden switch from independent to Republican also calls into question his commitment to the Republican Party.

Mr. Weld’s record isn’t perfect, but he does stand the best chance against Mr. Spitzer. He’s got a record as governor of Massachusetts fixing many of the issues New York currently faces: out-of-control debt, escalating state spending, tax hikes, and rising Medicaid costs. He has a national donor base from prior campaigns he can leverage. And more importantly, his moderate views will appeal to conservative Democrats and independents, which is absolutely necessary for any Republican to win in Democratic New York.

Republican Chairman Stephen Minarik recently said about building a Republican coalition, “Are 100% of the people in a political party going to be satisfied? Of course not.” Mr. Weld doesn’t agree with the Republican Party on every single issue. But on pocketbook issues, he’s a lot more conservative than New York Republicans may think and the Republicans best chance in 2006.

Mr. Stimpson was an aide to Mr. Weld from 1994 to 1997 when he was governor of Massachusetts. He is currently writing a book about Mr. Weld.