In 2006, the popular former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld competed in the Republican primary for Governor of New York, narrowly losing out in his bed. Elliot Spitzer later beat the Republican nominee. What if Weld had been nominated? Could he have won out? Would this put him on the map to run for President in 2008 or 2012? How would his former constituents react? The people of New York?
WI: William Weld becomes NY Gov
- Thread starter JVM
- Start date
Fair point, but Kennedy other then being Attorney General, had held no other political office. Weld has already been Governor of another state.
Which means he can run on a proven ability to govern. It's not unprecedented for one person to have separately governed two states, it's just rare.
Which puts Weld into consideration for the 2008 GOP presidential nod, and all but certainly leaves him the nominee in 2012 if Kerry was reelected.
If George Pataki had endorsed William Weld, and had done so early (Weld supposedly had his unofficial support), he might have carried the convention fairly easily; the primary campaign is where I am not all the certain and where the nomination would ultimately fall. John Faso fully intended to seek the nomination whatever happened at the convention, and had already been endorsed by the Conservative Party; by extension even had he lost the Republican nomination Faso had intended to run in the General Election as the Conservative candidate. That by itself makes Weld's chances slim as that ballot line often is what makes the margins for Republican candidates.
William Weld had been endorsed by the Libertarian Party already apparently, which could have very well have netted them ballot access given they needed only (50,000) to obtain access till the next gubernatorial (out of 4.7 million cast in OTL).
Ultimately I think that Weld's chances to winning the election, while not nil, were far FAR from being in a realm worth discussing as a real possibility.
Edit: Just saw the Rasmussen Poll; while I imagine Weld would do much better than that, I would now rate Weld's chances nil, especially without the support of the Conservative party.
William Weld had been endorsed by the Libertarian Party already apparently, which could have very well have netted them ballot access given they needed only (50,000) to obtain access till the next gubernatorial (out of 4.7 million cast in OTL).
Ultimately I think that Weld's chances to winning the election, while not nil, were far FAR from being in a realm worth discussing as a real possibility.
Edit: Just saw the Rasmussen Poll; while I imagine Weld would do much better than that, I would now rate Weld's chances nil, especially without the support of the Conservative party.
That was different. Sanford won in a seat favorable to his party, which he had held previously before being elected to two terms as governor of his state.
And New York is a state favorable to Spitzer's party, and the man had held statewide office (Attorney General) for two terms, before running for governor of the same state.
Though to be fair, the country is far more polarized today than it was in 2006 (to illustrate, an openly lesbian Democratic challenger almost won SC-01, the seat Sanford now holds, in 2008 - she lost by 4 points.)
Though to be fair, the country is far more polarized today than it was in 2006 (to illustrate, an openly lesbian Democratic challenger almost won SC-01, the seat Sanford now holds, in 2008 - she lost by 4 points.)
In presidential contests, yes, but it's also a state that spent 16 years electing a Republican and whose bastion of liberalism was doing the same in its mayoral contests.
Spitzer doesn't do as well as de Blasio, but it's probably not too far off.
United States presidential election in New York, 1964
Johnson 68.56%
Goldwater 31.31%
United States Senate election in New York, 1964
Kennedy 53.5%
Keating 43.4%
The Lyndon Johnson landslide would like a word with you.
United States presidential election in New York, 1964
Johnson 68.56%
Goldwater 31.31%
United States Senate election in New York, 1964
Kennedy 53.5%
Keating 43.4%
Weld was not named Kennedy or Clinton--two popular political names in New York. And 1964 and 2000 were good years for the Democrats in New York (LBJ and Gore carried the state in landslides). 2006 was not a good year for Republicans in New York (or most other states). I don't see Weld or any other plausible Republican candidate defeating Spitzer.
Well, Spitzer wasn't exactly a squeaky clean politician. Apart from the prostitution scandal, I believe he also had a couple of his convictions over turned due to faulty evidence (I read up on it once, though I lost the site and admit I didn't check their sources, so I don't know how many or how big the cases were exactly). All it would take is something coming out close to November, and a semi-competent challenger, and he could be in a pretty tough position to win.