An adviser to Tom Golisano--who said Golisano is willing to spend at least $5 million on State Senate races this year--is taking the news that Rudy Giuliani is launching a P.A.C. in stride. (The former mayor's fund-raising committee will contribute mainly to State Senate Republicans, who would like to maintain their very narrow majority.)

“Clearly it’s his right to do what he believes and I think this will be quite a critical election,” Golisano adviser Steve Pigeon told me. “I think there will be some candidates we support in common and others we don’t.  But he [Giuliani] clearly has a right to do it.  read more »

These pre-pre election polls have limited significance for any actual contest, but according to this poll from Siena, Michael Bloomberg is benefiting from his continued popularity as mayor, beating both David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo in a hypothetical gubernatorial election.

Here are some other interesting bits:

Paterson wins over Andrew Cuomo among upstate Democratic voters, 51-28.

Rudy Giuliani beats Bloomberg among Jewish Republican voters, 80-20.

Bloomberg beats Paterson among independent voters, 62-26.

And Giuliani edges Paterson among upstate voters, 43-42.

The poll was conducted by phone between July 7 and 10 and included responses from 626 registered voters.

Every four years, involving one party or the other, it seems that we get a batch of stories just like today’s Washington Post write-up on a possible platform fight between John McCain and the G.O.P.’s right wing.

It’s almost always much ado about nothing. Tension between the nominee of either party – who is interested in projecting a moderate, inclusive image to the general-election audience – and that nominee’s red-meat-hungry party base are inevitable. But party platforms themselves do not influence mass opinion – the pictures and sounds that come out of the convention do.  read more »

Here's video from Rudy Giuliani's brief appearance at the Kings County Republican Committee’s annual fund-raiser last night, where he paid tribute to his former community assistance commissioner, Rosemarie O’Keefe.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else tonight,” Giuliani told the audience, which gave him a warm, though not particularly impassioned, welcome. “We met in 1989 and she worked very, very hard to get me elected in 1989, [and] we didn’t succeed, but we became very good friends,” he said.

Giuliani spoke for about eight minutes, praising O’Keefe’s work with families of 9/11 victims and her efforts to build the Republican Party. He made no mention of the presidential race, nor of his plans for the future.  read more »

Rudy Giuliani and his top aide, Anthony Carbonetti met with the New York State Republican Chairman Joe Mondello last week for a little chat about state politics. The meeting took place at the office of Giuliani Partners, at the invitation of Giuliani, according to Carbonetti.

I asked him if the subject of Giuliani for governor came up, since it's been the subject of some recent speculation.  

"Of course it did," Carbonetti confirmed during a telephone interview yesterday. "But Rudy was like, 'Lets worry about getting through this cycle.'"

Mr. Carbonetti continued: "Joe said, 'I'm with you if you want to run.' You know, the usual stuff.  read more »

Rudy Giuliani is back in the presidential fray, weighing in as a surrogate for John McCain on today's back-and-forth between McCain and Barack Obama on national security.

Here's the Giuliani statement sent out by the McCain campaign:

"Throughout this campaign, I have been very concerned that the Democrats want to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals -- a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security. In a post 9/11 world, we need to remain on offense against the terrorist threat which seeks to destroy our very way of life. We need a leader like John McCain who has the experience and judgment necessary to protect the American people."

Paging Joe Biden?

When voters in a new Quinnipiac poll out today were asked who they’d like to elect as governor in 2010, Michael Bloomberg came out on top, slightly edging out Rudy Giuliani.

The survey gave respondents four choices: Bloomberg, Giuliani, David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo.

Paterson, who enjoys a 67-20 approval rating according to this poll, came in third.

Here are the numbers:  read more »

The speculation that Rudy Giuliani might try to run for governor in 2010 has one of his earliest supporters pretty excited.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/giuliani-2009#comments Politics Andrew Cuomo Guy Molinari John Catsimatidis Ray Kelly Rudolph Giuliani Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:58:19 -0400 Azi Paybarah 70493 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/bruno-mum-same-sex-marriage-last-night

After he spoke to a room full of Republicans at a fund-raiser--attended by heavyweights like Rudy Giuliani and Dick Cheney--in Midtown last night, I asked Joe Bruno why he didn’t mention same-sex marriage in his address.  read more »

Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani are among the special guests headlining the New York State Republican Committee annual dinner, which is taking place at 6 p.m. next Thursday at the Sheraton in Midtown.

In a public statement announcing the event, State Chairman Joe Mondello said:  read more »