"In a move that could foreshadow Mayor Rudy Giuliani's withdrawal....."
Friday May 12, 2000, 8:12 PM EDT
Giuliani Summons Lazio to Gracie Mansion
In a move that could foreshadaw Mayor Rudy Giuliani's withdrawal from New York's U.S. Senate race, Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio has been secretly summoned to the mayoral residence at Gracie Mansion, The New York Observer reported late Friday on its Web site.
Early last year, Lazio had announced his intentions to enter the Senate race, but was talked out of the idea by the state's GOP leadership, which considered Giuliani to be the much stronger candidate in any race against first lady Hillary Clinton.
But with the twin traumas of Giuliani's diagnosis of prostate cancer and the very public unraveling of his marriage, state party leaders have grown concerned that the mayor may not be able to devote his full energies to a Senate bid. In a Thursday press conference Giuliani said that he wasn't even thinking about politics for the moment, but was instead focused on how to handle his personal problems.
On his weekly Friday morning WABC radio show, the mayor gave no hint of his intentions, but said he would make a decision on whether to continue his campaign "within the next few days."
The idea for a Giuliani-Lazio meeting was first broached on May 5th, when the congressman called the mayor to wish him well after his cancer was diagnosed, reported the Observer, citing an unnamed source in Lazio's office.
The secret meeting was initially scheduled for Monday but had to be postponed due to a scheduling conflict.
Though Lazio had put his Senate ambitions on the back burner, he never completely abandoned the idea of making a run and often reminded audiences that the New York mayor had yet to formally announce his Senate bid.
The Long Island congressman set his sights more than a year ago on the first lady, who was then only rumored to be interested in a New York Senate race. "Are we going to let this happen to New York?" Lazio mused to an audience of Dutchess County conservatives in April 1999 about the prospect of a "Senator Hillary."
Unlike the New York mayor, Lazio is a social conservative and would have no problem winning the state's Conservative Party endorsement. No Republican has won statewide office since 1974 without the conservative party's support.
By last fall, the congressman had raised $3 million, nearly as much as Giuliani had by that time. But in order to maintain party unity and give Giuliani the best possible chance of beating Mrs. Clinton, New York Governor George Pataki persuaded Lazio to step to the sidelines.
The ring of Senator Clinton seems to be another step closer to reality.
Borealis |
