Is there MORE here than meets the eye ??? --- Mike Long talks about Conservatives possibly going it alone for NYS Governor this year --- Also the "farfetched" possibly of endorsing Andrew Cuomo

NYS CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN SURVEYS THE REPUBLICAN FIELD  ---  then he suggests that he isn’t impressed

Long actually mentions possibility of endorsing Governor Andrew Cuomo 

WAIT ONE MINUTE !!!!!    ANDREW CUOMO  ?????

 

Relax,  it was only Mike’s use of a rhetorical flourish, employing a subjunctive, contra-factual conditional presentation of the improbable Cuomo “endorsement”…..  OR WAS IT ?????

RIDDLE ME THIS, BATMAN:   Why is NYSCP Chairman Mike Long saying all of this so openly at this early stage of the game ?????

FIRST:  LONG SAYS THAT  ---  THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES MUST SHOW THEY ARE WORTHY OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY’S ENDORSEMENT

According to this report by Ken Lovett in the Daily News  ---  “With two top GOP potential candidates for governor recently deciding to forgo a run, longtime state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long admits to worries over whether the remaining possibilities have the right stuff….”  (See “LOVETT: Republican exodus from governor race worries Conservative Party boss”  by Kenneth Lovett, 1-8-18,  NY Daily News/ Politics   [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/lovett-gop-exodus-gov-race-worries-conservative-party-boss-article-1.3743253]).   Lovett’s piece went on to say that,  “….   Republicans and conservatives were disappointed when their leading choice, wealthy business turnaround expert Harry Wilson, decided not to run, citing family considerations….”  And that  “….  While  [Mike] Long is open to [some of the Republicans still being mentioned as candidates], he said they will have to first prove they can mount a credible challenge to Gov. Cuomo, meaning they have to craft the right message and show they are capable of raising significant amounts of money to get that message out….   [And] in all fairness, [they will] have a lot to do to get some steam up to make a credible run….   We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. Whether they can put a campaign together or not, the jury is out right now….”

THEN LONG SAYS THAT:   HE  >>> WILL NOT BACK <<<  JOEL GIAMBRA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

Ken Lovett quoted Mike Long’s specific non-endorsement of Joel Giambra,  as follows:   “….   Long said there is no chance his party would back Giambra, who donated money to Cuomo and Hillary Clinton and helped raise money for Mayor de Blasio, who he calls a friend….  If I was going to give consideration to Joel, I might as well give consideration to endorsing Andrew Cuomo, that’s how farfetched it is….”

ULTIMATELY MIKE LONG SAYS:   CONSERVATIVES WON’T  ‘RULE OUT’  RUNNING THEIR OWN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR LIKE THEY DID IN 1990

The Lovett article ended its coverage of Mike Long’s threatening statements to the GOP with this:   “Long did not rule out the Conservative Party, for the first time since 1990, running a different candidate than the Republicans if the GOP doesn’t select a suitable candidate….   ‘It’s still too early for that, but that is never off the table….”

WHAT’S GOING ON HERE ???  ---  IS THIS A TRIAL BALLOON ?????

Some say that this is just the opening gambit in the traditional Conservative Party shakedown of the Republican Party and Republican candidates…..

That well might be,  but what if it’s more than that ?????

Mike Long didn’t need to mention Joel Giambra at all,  but he did.   I think that he did it, because it gave Mike Long just enough of an opening to  >>> RHETORICALLY MENTION  <<< that he could  “… well give consideration to endorsing Andrew Cuomo…”.