Bill Weld as New York Governor (2006)

In 2006, Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld ran for Governor of New York.

He secured the Libertarian Party's nomination and competed with John Faso for the Republican nomination. Ha apparently had Pataki's unofficial support and though Faso said he planned on running on the Conservative line whether or not he got the GOP nomination, Weld said the same thing regarding the Libertarian line.

So lets say Pataki comes out for Weld, Weld clinches the nomination, grabs the Independence Party Line while he's at it (Spitzer got it historically), and Spitzer's prostitution scandal comes out early imploding his campaign.

What now?
 
Well, Bill Weld wil have to contend with the fallout of the Financial crisis, which will probably do nothing positive for his approval rating.
 
He gets torched in 2010 on schedule - nobody, and I mean nobody, could effectively maneuver the waters of the crisis that the State went through in 2009-10. The Republicans may retain control of the Senate and make some better choices/avoid the leadership chaos, but I don't think they could have avoided all the disastrous cuts and programs implemented back then, so that would actually make the situation worse for the party in 2010.
 
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