New York State of...Nice?

It's a real shame the whole country can't be watching the Bush-McCain race from a vantage point in New York.

For pure entertainment and delicious meanness, nothing beats New York politics - and the tabloids are having a fine time with this year's side show which features Governor George Pataki squaring off against New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mind you, they're both Republicans and both Bush supporters, but they've always despised each other - and this campaign has not been a bonding experience for them.

Pataki would love to be Bush's running mate so he's taken over the Bush campaign with relish. Doing what they do in New York. Like saying McCain is against breast cancer research and so on.

But here the plot thickens. Giuliani has ulterior motives, too. He's running for the Senate against you-know-who and has figured out that if he's going to beat her, he'll need some of those independents who like McCain.

So even though he's a Bush man, he announced he'll say only nice things about McCain. Wait, Guiliani wants a nice campaign?

Pataki's top advisor said she was "dumbfounded" by such an attitude which was when somebody called the whole thing stupid.

Heaven knows where it ends but by Friday, McCain himself wrote Bush man Guiliani to thank him for keeping the tenor of the campaign positive.

You know, it's not often a candidate compliments someone on the other side for being nice. But as I said at the top, it is New York.