Pat Manning

Former GOP gubernatorial hopeful Pat Manning decided to stay in the Assembly; but he now seems to be putting out fires in his own political backyard.

In The Observer's political pages,I take a look at who's trying to start a Bloomberg '08 buzz, and why, and entertain the notion semi-seriously for a few paragraphs. (Um, Happy Birthday, Mr. Mayor?)

Also, E.J. Kessler is underwhelmed by Pat Manning and Joe Conason writes on Dick Cheney.

Elsewhere in the paper, Jason Horowitz looks into the Met's antiquities problems and Matt Schuerman finds a controversy on Brooklyn's Fulton Street.

According to January's filing, Randy Daniels has spent 93% of his cash on hand since July. The GOP gubernatorial hopeful spent 144% of contributions raised in the same period, 95% of which went to fundraising/consulting fees. This leaves him with $24,755.44.

Most of the money went to what looks like a pretty unsuccessful fundraising push, but the campaign doesn't seem to have been pinching pennies on other fronts, with the campaign spending $10,467.26 on car services and $9,396.94 on airfare.

Asked about the campaign's expenditures, Daniels campaign manager Rob Ryan said, "When you're running for governor in a state like New York you have to lay the groundwork and that takes a lot of money." He also noted that they've paid their bills on time.

Daniels' spending during this period is on par with Bill Weld--who spent $253,545.56 (about 14% of what he raised) and currently has $1,837,630.95 in the bank--yet leaves him with the same amount as Pat Manning.

Eliot Spitzer's spending in the same period was $1,919,377.58 (about 23% of what he raised), a chunk of the $19,080,213.17 in his coffers.

Later, when asked about Daniels' use of car services, Ryan had no comment but to say, "He takes the subway almost everyday."

—Nicole Brydson

There suddenly so damn many Republicans running for Governor, and one whom The Politicker has neglected to mention is Pat Manning, an Assemblyman and blogger from Dutchess County whose line on the presumptive Democratic nominee is as follows:

"We know when a man can't milk a cow and this man can't milk a cow."  read more »

Now, if that were the sole qualification for being Governor of New York, both Rockefeller and Cuomo would have been in some trouble. Come to think of it, can George Pataki milk a cow?

(via Albany Eye)