Moderates Vs Conservatives in NY GOP Race
ALBANY, N.Y. - In the battle for the soul of New York's Republican Party, drawing up this year's election ticket comes down to a clash of moderate versus conservative as the state finds itself increasingly out of step with the rest of the nation.
The tussle could serve to remind heartland Republicans, who are far more conservative than their Northeast brethren, that Giuliani and Pataki come from a very different world.
"In 1984, the Democrats held a very liberal presidential convention in San Francisco," said Nelson Warfield, a GOP strategist with ties to conservatives in New York and elsewhere. "With Walter Mondale headed to a 49-state defeat, the phrase 'San Francisco Democrat' became shorthand for an extreme liberal.
"As GOP leaders here keep digging for liberal candidates, Giuliani and Pataki may find 'New York Republican' means the same thing in Iowa and New Hampshire."
In a state where Republican success has often been linked more to the liberalism of the late Nelson Rockefeller than the conservative policies of Karl Rove, Giuliani and Pataki won Democratic votes and elections by supporting abortion and gay rights and tough gun-control measures. They also kept their Republican base mollified with forceful talk on law-and-order issues.
"It's a fight between the Main Street Republicans and the Wall Street Republicans," pollster Maurice Carroll, an expert in New York politics, said after Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland recently entered the race for the Republican Senate nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The state's influential Conservative Party has embraced Faso, a significant coup considering no Republican in three decades has won statewide office without its support.
The Rockefeller Republicans bring money and connections to the fight; the conservative wing brings a platform more closely aligned with most of the nation's Republicans.
"It is a fight for the Republican Party," Spencer told Albany radio station WROW-AM last week. "It's almost class warfare - a group of elitists who do come from money and wealth and whatever, who have what I think is a look-down-your-nose, superior attitude toward people with my background."
Thus far, moderate Republicans have done well in New York. Pataki is in his 12th year as governor - he's not running for re-election - and Giuliani had two four-year terms as mayor. Impressive results in a state with 5 million Democrats and 3 million Republicans, and a city with five Democrats for every Republican.
