The Oct. 30, 1975 front page of the New York Daily News.

Speaker of the House John Boehner is taking heat from all sides for delaying the decisive vote on the post-Hurricane Sandy federal aid package. Even his fellow Republicans have blasted Mr. Boehner. Many of the local Democrats who jumped into the fray used the motif of the famous 1975 Daily News cover that implied Gerald Ford told the city to "drop dead" when he vowed to veto federal aid to the five boroughs in their assessments of Mr. Boehner's conduct. Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson explicitly credited his source material in his shot at Mr. Boehner.

"The decision by House Speaker John Boehner to postpone a vote on Hurricane Sandy aid for the New York region is a travesty of epic proportions," Mr. Thompson said in a statement. "The move is reminiscent of the famous newspaper headline from the 1970’s when the federal government refused to help New York City in a time of need. 'Boehner to City: Drop Dead' is an appropriate headline for the Speaker’s actions."

City Council speaker and likely mayoral candidate Christine Quinn alluded to the headline a little less directly when she discussed Mr. Boehner's handling of the aid package on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight this evening.

"I mean it's really unbelievable how Speaker Boehner and his party could just walk away from all the New Yorkers, and people in New Jersey and people in Connecticut in need," said Ms. Quinn. "Quite frankly, Speaker Boehner told them to just drop dead and it's just outrageous."

Long Island Congressman Peter King, who also blasted Mr. Boehner earlier today, had a meeting with Mr. Boehner this afternoon in which he said the speaker promised a vote on the aid would be held by January 15. On CNN, Ms. Quinn responded that she can't be sure Mr. Boehner will stick to that commitment because he previously promised the vote would be held before the 112th Congress finished at the end of last year. She also urged Mr. Boehner to visit New York and "answer to" people who were affected by the storm in the time between now and the aid vote.

"I hope he does the right thing between now and January 15 as he allegedly has promised Peter King, but I'm not going to believe it till I see it because any assurances we've gotten until now have just been wiped away," Ms. Quinn said. "You know what? Speaker Boehner should do between now and when he says he's going to vote? He should come to New York and New Jersey, he should walk with me and others in Queens, he should go to Belle Harbor and Breezy Point, he should talk to those folks whose homes were burned to the ground."

The New York State Democratic Party also used the "drop dead" line, however their statement wasn't aimed at Mr. Boehner. Rather, it was directed at New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox, who expressed disappointment the package wasn't passed, while simultaneously suggesting Mr. Boehner's decision not to hold the vote may have been justified because the Sandy aid bill was "pork-laden."

"Mr. Cox’s defending of the inaction by congress is anti-New York and he has put his political allegiance to his own Republican party over his allegiance to the people of the state. Mr. Cox said the Republican House was justified in not voting because the bill had 'pork.' Not even the extremist Republicans have argued that," the statement began.

Before delivering the kicker, the statement from the state Democratic Party got in a jab at Mr. Cox's father-in-law, former President Richard Nixon.

"New York doesn’t have time for partisanship or Mr. Cox's Nixonian brand of politics. Mr. Cox should get on board with the relief effort or get out of the way. Either way, Mr. Cox’s message today to New Yorkers impacted Sandy was as clear as can be: ‘Ed Cox to NY: drop dead.’"

George Pataki (Photo: Getty)

Former New York Governor George Paraki and New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox held a conference call with reporters this morning ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering. Mr. Pataki claimed his emphasis on lower tax rates and de-regulation led to the creation of the school while President Obama's policies have failed at spurring private sector development.

Though Messrs. Pataki and Cox focused on criticizing the president's economic policies, they were also asked by Buzzfeed's Zeke Miller about the uproar over Vice President Joe Biden's comments in support of same sex marriage yesterday and the lingering questions about where President Obama stands on the issue.

"I think it's pretty simple, either you're for something, or you're against it and Vice President Biden has made it plain he's for it. President Obama, on the other hand, is looking to have both sides where he's appealing to those who are supportive of gay marriage, but is afraid to alienate those who don't."

Mr. Pataki, who briefly flirted with running for president this year, said the situation reminded him of the incident last March when President Obama was overheard on a microphone telling then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he'd have "more flexibility" to deal with contentious foreign policy issues after the election.

"If you ask me, his position is a lot like what he said to former Russian President Medvedev at the open mic in Europe where he said, 'Just wait till after the election, I'll have a lot more flexibility then.' Well, I think the American peiople deserve to know today where President Obama stands today and where he will stand next year on this issue."

Mr. Pataki mixed up his Russian politics a bit. Back in March, Mr, Medvedev was Russia's president and Vladimir Putin was prime minister. Yesterday, Mr. Putin became president again and tapped Mr. Medvedev to be prime minister. It's easy to see how Mr. Pataki would be confused.

Though they were eager to hit President Obama on gay marriage, neither Mr. Cox or Mr. Pataki wanted to discuss the other social issue that has defined this race--abortion. Mr. Pataki has supported abortion rights, a stance which contributed to the dissolution of his 2008 presidential campaign. He changed the subject when The Politicker asked whether he thought the Republican Party's opposition to abortion could hurt their chances of taking back the White House and establishing a supermajority in Congress.

"The American people are focused on jobs and the economy," Mr. Pataki said. "Mitt Romney is focused on jobs, he's focused on an opportunity society of free people and free enterprise. That's what he stands for. He's going to be elected President of the United States."

The State Republican Party today released a statement blame the DOT's rejection of the expedited project squarely on the shoulders of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his fellow Democrats, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

How can a project be fast tracked in October and killed in April? It's called fast tracking a "bridge to nowhere."

This also points to a failure in leadership on the parts of Senators Gillibrand and Schumer and Governor Cuomo to secure the necessary federal funds from President Obama.

The State GOP notes that two of its rising starts--Westchester  County exec Rob Astorino and Rockland County executive Scott Vanderhoef wanted Mr. Cuomo to include mass transit on a new bridge. The Cuomo administration has pushed for the bridge to be built without mass transit but to allow space for mass transit to be built later.

Both Senators Schumer and Gillibrand seemed to shrug off the news that the bridge wouldn't be fast-tracked, noting in a statement yesterday that it could still could be approved if the House takes up the Senate's transportation bill.

"This announcement keeps the door open for the new Tappan Zee bridge," they said in a joint statement. "The Senate transportation bill that passed with a large bipartisan majority makes a significant investment in the TIFIA program. If the House agrees with that investment, the Tappan Zee has a good chance of being approved, and we hope the House will agree."

This did not satisfy State GOP chairman Ed Cox, however.

Ed Cox and Ray Kelly (Photo: NY1)

The full court press for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to enter the 2013 mayoral field continued last night, with Republican State Party Chairman Ed Cox going on Inside City Hall to sing Mr. Kelly's praises and encourage him to run.

Joining the ecstatic New York Post, Staten Island power broker Guy Molinari and former Mayor Ed Koch, Mr. Cox declared, "Of course Ray Kelly would be a superb candidate."

"Commissioner Kelly, you know, has been commissioner under two administrations," Mr. Cox later continued. "He loves this city, he cares about it deeply, he knows this city backwards and forwards. He's been a terrific commissioner and he'd make a terrific mayor."

Mr. Kelly, of course, hasn't indicated he will run and is only one possible candidate. One or two other names have been mentioned, but there is clearly a search on the Republican side as powerhouse Democratic candidates are building organizational networks and raising money hand over fist.

Mr. Cox predicted that wouldn't wouldn't be enough, however, due to the flaws of the Democratic field.

"What we need is a candidate who's looking after to interests of the people of New York City, not the special interests," he said. "Unfortunately the candidates on the Democratic side are all vying to get the support of the special interests, and that's why since 1993 the Mayor of New York has been elected on the Republican line."

Ed Cox (Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Now that Rick Santorum has officially ended his presidential campaign, there will be even less than expected at stake in New York's presidential primary April 24. New York Republican Party chairman Ed Cox responded to the news of Mr. Santorum's departure in an interview with The Journal News' Politics on the Hudson blog by saying New York will remain important to presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney even though it doesn't occupy a contested spot on the electoral map.

"New York is going to be very important to his campaign, not because we are a swing state with respect to our electoral votes, but because this is where the financial center with the money is, this is the media center of the United States where the media is, and this is the center for many ethnic groups," Mr. Cox said. "So, New York going forward--as I learned as chairman of the McCain campaign--is going to be the most important non-swing state here among the 50 states."

Even prior to Mr. Santorum's departure, New York's Republican primary didn't seem to be up for grabs. In a presidential poll released this morning, Mr. Romney was beating Mr. Santorum by 33 points among Republican voters in New York.

In his interview with Politics on the Hudson, Mr. Cox credited Mr. Romney's focus on the economy "really trumped Rick Santorum’s emphasis with respect to social values" in New York.

"We’re all going to be working hard for Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States," Mr. Cox said.

David Storobin making his way to the stage to give his election night speech. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

The race between veteran Councilman Lew Fidler and Republican upstart David Storobin was a vicious campaign that included charges of pedophilia, Nazism and election day allegations "a Storobin thug" ran over a Fidler volunteer with a van. A police spokesperson subsequently told The New York Times the claim about the van proved to be untrue. In the end, Mr. Storobin was up by 120 votes in the final pre-paper ballot tally, but both candidates declared victory and the campaign is headed to a close count and court fight. However, as Mr. Storobin pointed out in a speech at his election night party, no one expected him to come close.

"We counted 100 percent of the votes but there are still some votes, some paper votes that are left, but based on all the info that we have, I'm proud to say that we, all of us, won this race. There may be recounts and we may have to wait for official results for a few days, or maybe even a couple of weeks, but like I said, the good won, we won," Mr. Storobin said. "Tonight, we'll go to bed as winners when nobody outside believed that we had a shot to even compete, when every story about this campaign began with Lew Fidler, the heavy favorite."

According to Craig Eaton, chairman of the Brooklyn GOP, Mr. Storobin's campaign began almost exactly a year ago. Mr. Eaton said Mr. Storobin, who emigrated from the Soviet Union as a child and eventually opened his own law practice, came to him and expressed interest in running for office four years ago. Last year, Mr. Eaton said they decided it was time for Mr. Storobin to challenge Democrat Carl Kruger, who had represented the 27th District in South Brooklyn since 1994.

"We did the dynamics of it and said a Russian lawyer in this district could work," Mr. Eaton said at the party last night.

On March 8th, 2011, Mr. Eaton brought Mr. Storobin up to Albany to introduce him to the Republican Senate Conference and the State GOP leadership. That night, they went to dinner at Angelo's 677 Prime, a steakhouse near the State Capitol, with New York Republican State Committee Chairman Ed Cox and several GOP county chairs. During the meal, the television sets lining the walls of the restaurant came alive with the news Mr. Kruger was going to be indicted on federal corruption charges that would eventually send him to prison last December.

"The news broke that night. Now, if that isn't fortuitous, that I'm up there bringing David to meet and talk about running against Carl Kruger and, at that minute, Carl Kruger gets eliminated from the race," Mr. Eaton said. "From that day, we started campaigning and David just kept going forward."

Mr. Storobin's campaign was seen as a longshot, but he had heavy support from the local and state Republican Party, which was betting a campaign focused on Mr. Fidler's liberal positions on social issues, specifically gay marriage, could be a success among the large numbers of Russians and Orthodox Jews in the district. About half and hour after the polls closed last night, the early returns looked promising for the Storobin supporters and several attendees at Mr. Storobin's party were ready to claim victory and take credit for helping their man win. One of those people was Rabbi Isaac Levi, Chairman of the Board of a group called "Jews For Morality."

Mr. Levi a slight, elderly man with a long gray beard and black fedora identifying him as an Orthodox Jews, was handing out a Xeroxed press release that said, "Orthodox Jews play a major role in Storobin's success. ... Othodox Jews, a major voting bloc in the 27th Senate District, in a special election, elected Republican/Conservative David Storobin." Mr. Levi explained to The Politicker how Mr. Fidler's support for gay rights turned off many members of the Orthodox community.

"Fidler's voting for a proposal to teach same gender marriage in our schools to six-year-old children and his support for other anti-family bills played a major role in his defeat," Mr. Levi said. "He overstepped the bounds. Mr. Fidler overstepped the bounds of what we consider almost normal living, normal family life."

Mr. Levi was accompanied by a man with a short beard and a yarmulke named Bernard Fishman. Mr. Fishman initially said he couldn't comment because it might get him into hot water at his job, but he chimed in as Mr. Levi spoke.

"The main problem is that they are looking to interject themselves into our lives. There was a time when they said, 'Keep government out of the bedroom,' well, I supported that. Now, the question is, now that they have the tools of government, they can now force themselves into our areas," Mr. Fishman said. "I mean, they now, the state can now insist that every child learn about gay marriage. Why should that be? That's the danger. Two men can walk into a synagogue or a church and say, 'We want full membership, we're homosexuals.' Now who can stop that? Now that's where the danger is."

Same-sex marriage was legalized in Albany last June, but Mr. Levi said the Orthodox community still hopes to fight the issue by voting out politicians who support gay marriage and forcing a referendum.

"The truth is, the representatives in Albany let us down, they let us down. They were bought off on this issue by a very strong lobby," Mr. Levi said. "We're going to take corrective action, we're going to go out against all these State Assemblymen in our area of Brooklyn that voted for gay marriage. They're going to face primaries or elections and they're going to rue the day that they ever voted for gay marriage."

Mr. Storobin's party took place at an "Asian bistro" in Sheepshead Bay called O.P.M., short for "opium." Guests mingled under neon pink lights and ornate chandeliers while sampling from a buffet of Chinese food. Joseph Hayon, a former Assembly candidate and strong supporter of Mr. Storobin complimented the cuisine.

"This is 100 percent kosher food," Mr. Hayon said. "Tell me the last time a non-religious candidate had 100 percent Kosher food at a victory rally."

Both Mr. Fidler and Mr. Storobin are Jewish, though not Orthodox. Their religion came up at several points during the campaign. In January, Mr. Fidler accused Mr. Storobin of having "ties to skinheads, and neo-Nazi groups and white supremacist groups" because the Republican wrote a blog that was linked to by extremist groups. Last week, an ad ran in two local Jewish publications questioning Mr. Fidler's religious convictions because of a 2008 interview he gave to this publication in which he described himself as a "bacon and eggs kind of Jew." A special advertising supplement in the most recent issue of the Flatbush Jewish Journal noted Mr. Fidler's support for teaching children about gay marriage and described voting for him as a violation of religious law.

At Mr. Storobin's party, the crowd was still sparse about an hour after polls closed. We spotted several members of the Kings County G.O.P. and Brooklyn Young Republicans, a pair of staffers from the office of Republican Congressman and Senate candidate Bob Turner and Republican Councilman Dan Halloran.

"Lew Fidler, I love him to death, we have a great time in Council together, working together, but I think we need to start sending messages," Mr. Halloran said.

According to Mr. Halloran the key message that needs to be sent is that government should not get involved with religion with legislation like the same-sex marriage law, President Obama's contraception coverage rule and New York City's ban on churches using public school space.

"Respect for God is part of the American tradition, however you choose to see God," Mr. Halloran said. "I think a lot of pople feel that we've moved so far towards a secular state that we've forgotten that this is one nation founded under God."

With about 85 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Storobin had a slight lead. Jacob Kornbluh, a self-described "political junkie" and writer for Jewish Voice NY, said he didn't think Mr. Fidler would concede unless he was winning by more than 300 votes. Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Kornbluh said the night was a success for Mr. Storobin and the Kings County GOP.

"I'm happy because it shows that the Brooklyn Republicans are alive and kicking," Mr. Kornbluh said. "This shouldn't have even been close."

Mr. Kornbluh was right about Mr. Fidler being unwilling to concede. In fact, a little before 11:20 p.m., Mr. Fidler gave a victory speech at his election night party.

"Even if it doesn't always happen that way, this time, today, tonight, the good guys win," Mr. Fidler said.

When word of Mr. Fidler's speech reached the crowd at the Storobin party, Gene Berardelli, vice chairman of the Kings County Republicans' Law Committee turned to Russ Gallo, president of the Brooklyn Young Republicans and laughed.

"I guess the Brooklyn GOP are the good guys now," Mr. Berardelli said.

State Senator Marty Golden warming up the crowd for David Storobin. (Photo: Getty)

The final count coming in from the Board of Elections showed Mr. Storobin was up by 120 with 100 percent of the vote reported. It would be coming down to about 800 absentee and affidavit ballots, which are scheduled to start being counted March 27. That technicality didn't stop Mr. Storobin from stepping onto the raised dancefloor and giving a victory speech of his own shortly after Mr. Fidler. Mr. Storobin was introduced by State Senator Marty Golden, who listed gains Republicans have made in New York City in recent years.

"Remember? There was Senator Marty Golden, then we had Nicole Malliotakis, our Assemblywoman, and then we had a guy named Congressman Bob Turner. Right? Right? Right? And we have another guy, what's that guy? Congressman Michael Grimm," Mr. Golden said. "They said it couldn't happen right? And now, we've got New York State Senator David Storobin, yes, yes."

As crowds chanted his name, Mr. Storobin, who noted "it's been 18 hours since I woke up" touted his underdog status.

"It's been a long night and an even longer campaign, we started this campaign with nobody giving us a chance," Mr. Storobin said.

Mr. Storobin also referenced the attacks and allegations that flew back and forth during the race.

"Early in the race, my opponent ... called me a Jewish Nazi," Mr. Storobin said. "They called me a lot of names. Today, they claimed that we were running over their volunteers with our cars. No joke, multiple volunters. Now, nobody knows their names, where it happened, multiple of their volunteers apparently were run over by our cars. I mean maybe that's why they're going to claim that they lost, because their volunteers, their voters got run over by cars."

"I got two of them," Mr. Gallo shouted from the crowd.

"I knew it was Russell, I knew it," Mr. Storobin laughed.

Mr. Storobin said, unlike his opponent, he ran a "good campaign."

"We discussed real issues and our opponents decided to engage in character assasiation. And guess what? The good side won," Mr. Storobin said. "I will be going to Albany, and I will represent all of you and I will fight for you."

A heavyset Russian man shouted at Mr. Storobin from the audience.

"David, think about your mother," he said. "Tomorrow, she will wake up as a mother of United States Senator!"

Mr. Storobin corrected him.

"State senator, New York State Senator."

"Give it some time!" another audience member shouted.

Mr. Storobin's mother, Anna Storobin, was by his side on stage. Ms. Storobin made the maximum donation of $10,000 to her son's campaign, a fact which was derisively noted by the Fidler campaign during the race. At his party, Mr. Storobin thanked his mother for her support.

"I was interviewed by someone ... they were asking me about my campaign and how it's going, and then they said, 'Don't you feel that you will owe to your biggest fundraiser?'" Mr. Storobin said. "Let me point out, my biggest fundraiser and my biggest volunteer was my mom. So, yes, I will owe to my biggest fundraiser and my biggest volunteer. ... Our opponents really have no shame, they've attacked my mom repeatedly and that's one thing I've really taken offense to."

David Storobin celebrates with his supporters. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

After taking a congratulatory phone call from Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos on stage, Mr. Storobin descended into the crowd where he made a beeline for Brooklyn Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar, who worked on his campaign. Mr. Storobin asked Mr. Kassar how the situation with the paper ballots was shaping up. Mr. Kassar was optimistic.

"We worked them. Remember in the beginning when I was screaming and yelling about sending that stuff out? I was always thinking you'd be close, we were always on it," Mr. Kassar said.

Mr. Storobin's campaign is taking the ballot count to court. This morning, his lawyers filed a motion to have any questions about recanvassing decided before a judge rather than allowing the Board of Elections to make a final determination that cannot be appealed. We asked Mr. Storobin what he expected to happen on the morning after his party.

"It's going to be fun, you know, we're going to finally make it official, hopefully in the next couple of days," Mr. Storobin said. "We are very confident that we are going to win."

Mr. Storobin was among the last people to leave his party. As mist rolled in off the bay, he stood outside the restaurant with a small group of supporters. Mr. Storobin reacted with disbelief when one of his backers informed him Mr. Fidler had also made a victory speech.

"He announced he won?" Mr. Storobin asked incredulously.

"He announced he won because, he said he has five-to-one handwritten ballots on us," the man said.

"That crackhead," another Storobin supporter said.

"I think he is on crack," Mr. Storobin laughed.

Kirsten Gillibrand (Photo: Wikimedia)

The New York Republican State Committee blasted Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today, accusing her of benefiting from inside information when she was in the House of Representatives. Ms. Gillibrand is currently championing the fight to ban insider trading for federal representatives, which State GOP Chairman Ed Cox claims is hypocritical.

"In purporting to be a champion of insider trading reform - in a fundraising appeal no less - Ms. Gillibrand may be being too cute by half," he said in a statement this morning. "This may not pass the smell test."

The GOP's charges are based off of a Wall Street Journal report on the financial activities of Ms. Gillibrand's husband. The report said "more than 250 transactions in options in his E*Trade account in 2008, when his wife was in the House," some of which were bets the stocks of home builders would fail.

"Senator Gillibrand and her husband profited handsomely off the collapse of the U.S. housing market, and she never adequately explained where they got the special insight to make those profitable bets," Mr. Cox additionally said. "Not a lot of ordinary Americans knew to bet against the housing markets; Ms. Gillibrand needs to finally answer whether what she learned in Congress about the imminent collapse of the market had anything to do with her husband shorting housing stocks."

For their part, Ms. Gillibrand's campaign harshly criticized the accusations.

"Ed Cox is grasping at straws to recycle an old baseless political attack on a member of the Senator's family that was as specious then as it is now," Ms. Gillibrand's spokesman, Glen Caplin, responded. "The fact is, Senator Gillibrand has been a leader on transparency and accountability in Congress as the first member ever to voluntarily post her official daily schedule, all earmark requests and her personal financial disclosure statement on her website."

"New Yorkers expect the NYS GOP to join the coalition of Senate Republicans in their effort to pass this important legislation she helped author, not spin fairy tales," he added.

New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox

New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox released a statement this afternoon urging the GOP presidential candidates to stop infighting lest they provide ammo for President Obama to use in the general election.

"With Obama's Chicago machine gearing up to run the first billion-dollar campaign in history, Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment is as relevant as ever: Thou shalt not speak ill of fellow Republicans," the statement said. "Open primaries are good for the Party and good for the country. But when open debate turns to negative attacks on fellow Republicans, we provide our Democratic opponents with fodder for new attacks come the general election."At the Republican primaries enter the home stretch, the candidates and their associated super PAC's have launched several attacks against each other. Cox's statement said the must be making the "Obama machine" quite happy.

"Somewhere in Chicago, someone is smiling," the statement said. "The Obama machine is already preparing to run the most negative campaign in history on our eventual nominee. Let's not give them any more material."

Switzerland's Flag (Photo: Wikimedia)

In a release entitled "GENEVA'S ZIP CODE IS: 14456 Not CH-1201," New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox took issue with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for raising money from Americans in Europe. Senator Gillibrand is indeed in Geneva, Switzerland today as part of a fundraising tour that is also taking her through Paris and London.

"People in Geneva, Switzerland may have more money than people in Geneva, NY, but that's no excuse to be running around the globe on a fundraising junket while there is work to be done here at home," Chairman Cox said.  

Mr. Cox goes proceeds to attack Senator Gillibrand's for continuing to support health care reform, "while sipping champagne, popping canapés, and filling her campaign coffers in the shadow of the Swiss Alps." And, although the Senate has not convened for 2012 yet, Mr. Cox says that the Senator should be working to create jobs right now instead. "She's clinking glasses overseas when she should be cracking heads in Washington to actually get a bill passed."

New York Republicans are hoping to defeat Senator Gillibrand, who's up for election again in 2012. The Republican candidates who are most aggressively campaigning for the seat at the moment include The Ladders.com founder Marc Cenedella and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. Mr. Maragos recently announced that he's placed $1 million dollars into his  own campaign.

Senator Gillibrand is herself a prodigious fundraiser and is likely to add to the already substantial $7 million she last reported having on hand for her campaign when financial reports are due in the next couple weeks.

The D'Amato example is instructive. Mr. Cox told the county chairs, "Needless to say, one of our highest priorities will be to increase our majority in the State Senate, and elect more Republicans to the Assembly. "We also believe that Senator Gillibrand is vulnerable, and there are at least two highly qualified Republicans interested in challenging her."

It is interesting that Mr. Cox has limited the number of "highly qualified Republicans interested in challenging her" to two.  Internet entrepreneur Marc Cenedella has been taking a long look at the race, as has Daniel Rubino, a CEO of an investment advisory firm. George Maragos, the Nassau County comptroller, has already declared for the race, but no less a figure than Fred Dicker puts the fact that Mr. Maragos "announced" in "scare quotes," demonstrating the fact that Mr. Maragos isn't seen as serious by GOP brass, even though he is the only official candidate with election day 11 months away.

Also, it is worth noting that Mr. Dicker floated Mr. Cox's name in that same column.

And Mr. Cox pointed out to the chairs the areas in which he believes Ms. Gillibrand is vulnerable.

"She was AGAINST gay marriage as a member of the House, FOR gay marriage the day she was appointed to the Senate.

 

"She was FOR "Don't Ask, Don't tell" as a member of the House, AGAINST "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as a Senator.

 

"She was AGAINST gun control as a member of the House - where she earned a 100% rating from the NRA... FOR gun control as a Senator.

 

"She was AGAINST amnesty for illegals as a member of the House, FOR amnesty as a Senator.

 

"She was FOR making English the official language in the House, AGAINST making English the official language as a Senator."