Planned Switch to G.O.P. Stirs NY Governor’s Race

[depakid]

Source: NY Times


Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, at his office in Hauppauge, N.Y. Mr. Levy, a Democrat and fiscal hawk, is said to be preparing to announce a run for New York governor as a Republican.
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A governor’s race that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties. The move is certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic about their party’s hopes this fall. Those leaders believe that the official, Steve Levy, a blunt-spoken fiscal hawk and contrarian who collected 96 percent of the vote in his last re-election bid, can tap into the public’s anti-incumbent sentiment and frustration with Albany’s overspending.

Mr. Levy, 50, the Suffolk County executive, said he wanted voters to see him as “Scott Brown II,” referring to the Massachusetts senator who pulled off an upset against a heavily favored Democrat in January. “There really seems to be a void out there that I can fit perfectly,” Mr. Levy said, describing Albany’s political culture as a “cesspool.”

“We’ve got to clean house, tear that place down and build it back in a cleaner, more efficient manner,” he added. A spokeswoman for Mr. Levy, Rene Babich, said late Wednesday that Mr. Levy would announce in a news conference in Albany on Friday that he was seeking the Republican nomination for governor.

His candidacy could touch off an intraparty battle with former Representative Rick A. Lazio, a Republican who has been running since September but has failed to attract much enthusiasm or financial support.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/nyregion/18levy.html?hp

[NanceGreggs]

1. As per Mr. Levy's quote ...

"There really seems to be a void out there that I can fit perfectly," Mr. Levy said, describing Albany’s political culture as a 'cesspool', I can only say that I agree wholeheartedly with his decision to run as a GOPer.

As we all know, when it comes to filling a void in a cesspool, only a Republican is up to to the task.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Good one. nt

[miscsoc]

3. that's quite a good

off the cuff quip, devised in a matter of seconds after the op. pity you weren't there to respond when he said that in person, you would have made him look like an idiot. ah well! still a good line.

[NanceGreggs]

5. Thanks, but ...

... when it comes to looking like an idiot, people like Levy need little assistance.

[miscsoc]

7. the 'tache does the job

looks like a zombie john stossel

[NanceGreggs]

8. ...

... :rofl:

OMG, you're right!!!

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Nor does Rick Lazio...

Hillary Clinton left him in the dust... :-)

[Solly Mack]

9. teehee

score

[Soylent Brice]

14. i would really hate to be on the receiving end of your wrath.

i imagine you never raise your voice in arguments, but can somehow manage to make people simultaneously cry and pee on themselves.

:rofl:

[PhD]

4. Is he really popular enough to threaten Cuomo the Younger?

He looks unstoppable at this point.

[opihimoimoi]

6. The GOPers got to him wid big buck$$$

[NYC Democrat]

10. well probably not but..

Cuomos approval ratings went down to the mid 50s when he got involved in the Paterson investigation Paterson is THAT POISONOUS.

[The Wizard]

11. In medical terms

void means to excrete or discharge from the body.

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. Sounds like a Bloomberg operation.

Smells like it too.

[TomClash]

15. Bloomberg may be a lot of things but

anti-immigration isn't one of them.

[TomClash]

16. Here's all you really need to know

From the article:

In 2005, Mr. Levy helped orchestrate a highly publicized raid on a house in Brookhaven, where the authorities rounded up dozens of suspected illegal immigrants. He once described foreign women who give birth after moving to the United States as having “anchor babies,” a term often used derisively by anti-immigrant groups. Asked in a recent interview whether he might have chosen his words more carefully, he was unapologetic. “There’s no need to,” he said. “The public is in agreement with me.”

[unabelladonna]

17. i lived in suffolk county....

he's very popular and i must admit if i was still in NY i would vote for him. i don't care for mr cuomo.

[Supersedeas]

18. Campbell Brown's husband can't be happy about that

[w4rma]

19. This guy is a fraud. Otherwise he wouldn't be running against one of the best reform candidates in

the nation (Cumio).