In the summer of 2007 the Empire State was poised to be a national political powerhouse. A title the state had not seen for seven decades back when Franklin D. Roosevelt swept into the presidential office in 1933.It seemed to be New York’s year; the state produced three presidential candidates, two of whom were frontrunners. New York City’s mayor was continuously in the national spotlight with rumors of running an independent bid and potentially becoming the first non-party president. In addition, a promising young political star was elected to governor and poised for promotion to D.C. as the nation’s attorney general, presidential advisor or even a vice president.
New York had an impressive run of Presidents with a total of six - starting with Martin Van Buren (1837-1841), Millard Fillmore (1850-1853), Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885), Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). The state has also seen promising presidential bids from Governor Alfred E. Smith, Jr., Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
2007 began with the promise of a restoration of domination on the national political scene and a probable return to the Whitehouse. Fourteen months later the political ambitions of New York have all but dwindled away. The first to fall was presidential candidate and previous Governor George Pataki. In late 2006 Pataki expressed publicly his intentions to seek higher office but after it was determined that he could not beat former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, among other things, Pataki ended his presidential ambitions before they even stated. Giuliani announced his plans for presidency in 2007 and lead national polls as the Republican frontrunner during most of that year. National political pundits saw a possible New York presidential showdown between Giuliani and New York Senator Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate and frontrunner for the Democratic ticket. Giuliani’s campaign started to falter after scrutiny of his positions on national issues, political associations and contacts, and personal matters. After a poor showing in the first caucus and primary elections, Giuliani chose to focus on key delegate states, which proved disastrous and dropped out of the race in late January 2008. High speculation, national polling, and ambiguity from advisors fueled suspicion that Mayor Michael Bloomberg would make a possible bid for president. It is a hypothesis that Bloomberg needed polarized candidates in order for him, a third party candidate, to get the independent and moderate votes to win. When John McCain, a moderate Republican, became the established Republican candidate Bloomberg’s window of opportunity was closed. The last man (woman) standing is Hillary Clinton. Although still in the running, she has not produced the strong showing that political pundits expected just a few months ago. Win or lose, a long drawn out primary will leave Clinton or her rival Barack Obama embattled, beleaguered and behind on the campaign fundraising for the general election.
The saddest and most depressing of this group is the fall from grace of Elliot Spitzer. A promising political future shaped by high moral standards which would have eventually led to a bid for the Whitehouse, crumbled in the speed of light.
Who would have predicted in 2007, with such high expectations, the devastating political punches of 2008? Looking back, it was exhilarating although the highs and lows has left this political junkie exhausted and bewildered. Perhaps we will all have to wait until the next political cycle to see if New York makes another potentially great showing.
