Mayor Bloomberg isn’t really a Republican but he’ll soon be the state’s most powerful Republican. Whether that’s irony or tragedy depends on your politics.

John Faso can’t beat Eliot Spitzer for governor, K.T. McFarland and John Spencer will fare even worse against Senator Clinton, there’s barely a challenger to Alan Hevesi and while Jeanine Pirro could become Attorney General her felonious husband’s criminal past will haunt her forever.

The majority leader of the State Senate, Joseph Bruno, probably has visions of grand power as the only Republican in the troika that runs the state. After all, the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, owes much of his substantial influence to his status as the Democratic foil to Mr. Bruno and Governor Pataki.

But Mr. Bruno has already been majority leader for more than a decade, and the younger senators are impatient as they await a new generation of power.

In a quirk that isn’t likely to become tradition, Albany inducted three new leaders nearly simultaneously when Mr. Pataki took office after his come-from-behind victory in 2004. After a dozen years in command, both are closer to the end of their runs than the beginning. Mr. Silver and Mr. Bruno will probably keep their jobs in the early part of the Spitzer administration, but they shouldn’t invest in major office renovations.

Mr. Spitzer, on the other hand, can safely begin ordering new upholstery for the Governor’s Mansion and might even want to start interviewing caterers if he’s inclined to change the banquet staff. There is simply no way he loses if he’s alive and well on Election Day.

Mr. Faso narrowly lost for state comptroller four years ago, largely because he opposes abortion unless the mother’s life is in jeopardy. And the comptroller has nothing at all to do with abortion policy. If the abortion issue’s symbolism was enough to derail his comptroller campaign, he stands no chance winning an office that actually has some control over abortion regulations.

New York’s Republicans chose ideology over influence when they picked Mr. Faso over William Weld. Not that Mr. Weld would have had a great chance against Mr. Spitzer. But the relatively liberal Republican transplant from Massachusetts understands that ideology is lost in the wind in the absence of power to make policy.

Mr. Pataki unseated Mario Cuomo in the midst of an era of economic decline, a time when the only growth industry was crime. Cutting taxes and killing murderers presented appealing alternatives to Mr. Cuomo’s tired tenure.

But the Mr. Pataki didn’t exactly keep his job for so long because of those positions. Mr. Pataki will leave office without a single use of the death penalty. And New York’s taxes are still absurdly high.

Mr. Pataki won re-election by re-aligning himself to the increasingly Democratic electorate. He kept the Conservative Party’s support only because he had the support in the first place. Mike Long wasn’t about to abandon the governor he put in office just because of a few pesky policy differences like abortion, gay marriage and gun control.

But Mr. Long drew the line at staying loyal to the king he already made. Given the chance to help make a new king or draw an ideological line in the sand, Mr. Long picked symbolism over pragmatism.

That leaves room for Mr. Bloomberg, the ultimate pragmatist, to make a play for control of the Republican machine. The party’s right-wing base feels strong and influential today. But wait until all their candidates are trounced in November. Republicans have become accustomed to power over the last dozen years of controlling both City Hall and the State Capitol. Power can be corrupting, in this case corrupting of the reasoned judgment required to keep power. The Republican right that pushed for Mr. Faso is about to find out how much influence they have without any allies in office. None.

Mr. Bloomberg can capitalize on that power vacuum by using his status as the most powerful New York Republican to modernize the party. He can lavish cash on upstate upstarts who want to nurture their party through the ideological evolution required to govern in New York State. And he can support candidates who back his liberal views, largely the same liberal views Mr. Pataki ultimately embraced as he accepted the only way to keep power was to lose his conservative veneer.

Mr. Faso represents the old school in the state GOP. Sometimes a blast from the past is a refreshing reminder of the potential for the future. In this case the old school triumph demonstrates how to make a point that will soon be forgotten.