Under the Radar

NewsCopy reports that Assemblymen Pat Manning has been building strong ties with New York State Conservative County Committees and being successful in raising funds.

News Copy has learned that Pat Manning is rapidly closing in on additional endorsements and raising dollars at a frenetic pace, so much so that he could emerge in the near future as THE most-favored Republican candidate.

Manning has clearly emerged as a favorite among upstate County Conservative chairs, who view the 6'11" lawmaker as the freshest alternative to Weld or Golisano.

Pat Manning cannot win the Governorship as a Conservative alone, so it will be important to attract Republican Committees as well.

Republican chairs have been more direct in assessing Manning's chance, saying that it will depend on how much money he raises between now and the first of the year.

He may not be a millionaire but our sources continue to confirm that "the tall one" is raising more money than any other Republican statewide candidate, amazing progress for a little-known Assemblyman from Dutchess County.

In 1964, Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater brought the Conservative movement to the Republican Party and formed a new party that spread throughout the country. In New York, an unlikely State for conservatives, was the strongest Conservative Party coalition of all 50 States. It took sixteen years for a real conservative candidate to win the presidency with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

In 1990, The New York Republican Party chose a liberal candidate, Pierre Rinfret, for governor to challenge Mario Cuomo. The losing candidate, Herb London, stayed in the race and ran as the Conservative Party candidate for governor and embarrased Pierre Rinfret's candidacy. Republicans did not make the same mistake in 1994 and was sure to get their candidate, George Pataki, on the Conservative Party line. But we're at a crossroads today. It is sixteen years since 1990. Perhaps Pat Manning is to New York, what Ronald Reagan was to the Nation.

To hear what Pat Manning is saying, visit StandTallNewYork.