Representative Peter King, a Republican, does not see any alternative to resignation for Eliot Spitzer.

"It has to be," said King.

King said that Spitzer's apparent participation in a prostitution ring was graver than having an affair or any other personal transgression because the governor's inclusion could have helped fund organized crime and put the office of the governor at risk of blackmail. For those reasons and others, King said, Spitzer had to go. He also said he was confident that the climate in Albany would benefit under the leadership of David Paterson.  read more »

ORLANDO, FL. -- Rudy Giuliani's heavy hitters have arrived to help his make-or-break effort to win the Florida primary.

Getting off the plane here, I just ran into Representative Peter King of Long Island and Giuliani inner-sanctum stalwarts Randy Levine and Denny Young.

We're all headed to the Rosen Centre (about a 15-minute drive from Disney World and only 10 from Sea World!) where the former mayor will be speaking at a "Women for Rudy" rally.  read more »

Representative Peter King of Long Island was one of the attendees at the Giuliani event in Litchfield this afternoon, where the former mayor received a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair.

As the Congressman was leaving, I asked him Rudy had any shot of winning New Hampshire.

“He wants to make a good showing and he will stay in the running through Florida,” said King. “Then it is his turf after that.”

As Azi reported yesterday, Mike Bloomberg doesn’t seem to be a fan of the sweeping Energy Bill that President Bush signed yesterday – in particular, its mandate for an massive increase in ethanol production.

Bloomberg called the ethanol provision “an outrage” and said it would drive up food costs and “have worldwide implications on the food supply.” Ethanol, of course, is a sacred product in Iowa, the key caucus that the presidential candidates dare not offend.

So did New York’s Congressional delegation agree with the mayor? Apparently not: 28 of 29 New Yorkers in the House voted for the bill when it came up for its final vote last week (it cleared the chamber on a 314-100 vote). The lone exception was Staten Island’s Vito Fossella, who didn’t show up to vote. The bill cleared the Senate on an 86-8 vote, with Chuck Schumer voting yes and Hillary Clinton, perhaps too busy campaigning in Iowa, not voting.

In fairness, earlier versions of the bill produced slightly less unanimity. The initial version passed by the House (on a 264-143 vote) was supported by all of New York’s Democrats but only three Republicans: Randy Kuhl, John McHugh and Jim Walsh. Tom Reynolds, Peter King, and Fossella votes against it.  read more »

It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one trying to get squared away with Eliot Spitzer’s new license policy.

The governor’s (original) plan would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, but now it's being linked to federal guidelines that will be outlined in the Real ID Act. Although Spitzer backed Real ID this week, a number of Democratic congress members from New York opposed it during a 2005 vote (which may explain why it hasn't been easy getting most of them to say anything about Spitzer's new plan).

One congressional aide was kind enough to refer me to the results of the 2005 vote on the Real ID Act.

Democrats Gary Ackerman (Queens/Nassau), Tim Bishop (Suffolk), Joe Crowley (Queens/Bronx), Eliot Engel (Bronx/Westchester), Carolyn Maloney (Manhattan/Queens), Greg Meeks (Queens), Jerry Nadler (Manhattan/Brooklyn), Charlie Rangel (Manhattan), Jose Serrano (Bronx), Ed Towns (Brooklyn), Nydia Velazquez (Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens) and Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn) all voted against it.

UPDATE: Another congressional staffer, putting this story in context, noted that every Democratic congress member in the state voted against Real ID, except for Mike McNulty, who voted for it, and Maurice Hinchey who was absent.

Peter King thinks the religious right wing might end up guaranteeing a Hillary Clinton presidency.

"It would do more harm to the religious wing of the party," said King, a Giuliani supporter and Republican congressman from New York. "If they are successful it would mean they would be responsible for Hillary Clinton being president."

Ultimately, he doesn't think it's going to happen.

"They're not going to be successful," he said of Giuliani critics like James Dobson. "I think they are going to do very poorly."

But King also said he thought the prospect of President Hillary would be the very thing that would rally disparate parts of G.O.P. behind Giuliani.

More after the jump.  read more »

Mitt Romney's spokesman, Kevin Madden, is hitting Rudy Giuliani over the former mayor's claim, highlighted in a new South Carolina radio ad, that he tried to get the INS to help him fight illegal immigration.

"There is a very substantive and relevant contrast between Governor Romney and Mayor Giuliani on this,' said Madden. "It goes to the heart of the question on this which is when you talk to voters who really care about immigration, the number one priority is enforcement. They want to know that you are going to enforce existing laws."

Madden then made the case that Giuliani, whose record as a law-and-order mayor has been invaluable to him in appealing to conservative voters, failed to enforce the law of the land.

 read more »

Here's a partial transcript of Republican congressman Peter King's television interview yesterday with WNBC-TV's Jay DeDapper, in which King had some pretty nice things to say about a New Yorker running for President not named Rudy Giuliani.

I am not one of these Republicans who hates Hillary Clinton. I disagree with her, but I think she would be an effective president. But I do think that Giuliani can beat her. Maybe not--New York will be tough. But New Jersey, for instance. I think he has a very good chance. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida. That's where the key race is going to be. It'll be an excellent race.  read more »

Which will be kind of hard, since, according to Corrigan's blog, "We are not taking donations - as removing influence is of paramount importance to the voting system model."

Remember the following:

1. Be polite, be courteous. Dress in the neat but casual "Captain Bill Flyer" style. Wear your button on your left side so when you shake hands people will see it.

2. If you're at a railroad or bus station remember that people are on their way somewhere important so don't get in their way. If they are standing and waiting then it's okay to approach them.

3. Remember the 'rule of threes' over the next few days. Do NOT tell the same person the same information more than three times over the next week.

4. Remember that each flyer has it's own unique identifying code and that you are connected to those codes. The campaigner who has the most people log into the voting system using their codes wins "the big shark".

5. The locations you are to be present at have been selected based on your specific demographic strengths. Your individual cultural backgrounds are of paramount importance when speaking with the constituency. Be proud and represent!

6. DO NOT speak of any other potential candidates or the incumbent in an ill manner. You may compare our system versus the framework of the one that a party member has to (remember the WHIP speech). But do not say ANYTHING about any other potential candidate even if you are baited to. Just say you wish not to comment.

Clinton gave $1,000 to help Long Island Republican Peter King's challenger. The more conservatives get to know Rudy Giuliani's record, the more they'll like him, says John Podhoretz.

With a new Democratic majority taking over congress in January, some industries have to find new friends on Capitol Hill.

Fred Dicker reports that Governor Pataki rejected a plan to raise pay for state lawmakers in exchange for raising the cap on charter schools.

Andrew Cuomo's transition team comes together.

Errol Louis debunks some eminent domain figures.

And pollingreport.com has a list of every poll result they gathered for the midterm election.