Take Me Out Of The Campaign
For Rudy Giuliani, a couple of speeches in upstate New York didn't have quite the same attraction as the home opener of the reigning World Series champion Yankees.
So, instead of a Senate campaign swing through Rochester and Buffalo, the New York City Mayor spent Wednesday afternoon at opening day at Yankee Stadium.
"Long before I was a politician, I was a Yankee fan, what can I tell you?" the unrepentant mayor said at City Hall the day before.
"This is me. I'm a Yankee fan. I love the Yankees. I haven't missed an opening day since I've been the mayor. I can't imagine not being there when the Yankees opened, unless it was an emergency."
And where is Hillary Rodham Clinton - Giulani's Democratic rival for the U.S. Senate and herself a self-proclaimed Yankees fan - spending the day? She's opted for Buffalo, Amherst, and suburban Rochester, thank you very much.
When Clinton was asked about Giuliani's schedule change, she managed a good-natured dig at the mayor's campaign and slipping poll numbers.
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New York GOP strategist Jay Severin said the mayor's decision is surprising, because polls show the first lady running strongly against Giuliani in traditionally more conservative upstate New York. The region has become a key battleground in the Senate race and represents about 45 percent of the voting in statewide elections.
Recent polls show that the Republican mayor has surrendered his lead over Clinton and the race has slipped into a dead heat. Giuliani's canceled trip was seen as key because he has been criticized lately for his lack of upstate campaign appearances.
The scheduling conflict arose after baseball officials canceled Tuesday's Yankee home opener against the Texas Rangers due to forecasts predicting snow and rain in the Big Apple. Thmayor, who like all diehard Yankees fans had waited all winter for the game had cleared his schedule in anticipation. Alas, the weather didn't cooperate and the mayor's schedule was rearranged - starting with the postponement of appearances before a women's group in Rochester and a fund-raiser in Buffalo.
But Stephen Minarik III, the Republican Party chairman in Monroe County, which encompasses Rochester, said he understood Giuliani's choice of a baseball game uptown instead of a campaign event upstate - even though his wife had been involved in the planning.
"He is the mayor of the city of New York (and) the New York Yankees are an institution within the city of New York, so let's cut the guy some slack," he said.
Bob Davis, Erie County's Republican Party chairman, agreed, saying Buffalo area residents would not hold it against the mayor come November.
"He's doing the right thing," said Davis. "I'm a big baseball fan, I understand. People understand. Buffalo is a Yankees town too."