McCain Wins Another Battle

New York's chief backer of George W. Bush says John McCain will be on the GOP presidential primary ballot throughout the entire Empire State.

Gov. George Pataki has dropped his support of the New York Republican Party's efforts to keep the Arizona Senator off the primary ballot in 12 of the state's 31 congressional districts. That's about a third of the statewide ballot for New York's March 7 primary. Pataki and Empire State GOP leaders favor Bush in the Republican race for President.

But on Thursday, Pataki said, "John McCain should be on the ballot. This should be a campaign about ideas and issues, not technicalities. I'm confident that George (W.) Bush will win that campaign."

New York State GOP Chairman William Powers refused to comment Thursday on Pataki's decision. But since he and Pataki are close political allies, the chairman was expected to follow the governor's wishes.

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"It's the right decision. I welcome it," Bush said about Pataki's move on Thursday from the campaign trail in Delaware.

Campaigning in South Carolina on Thursday, McCain joked of Pataki: "I'll never call him 'comrade' again." That quip referred to a news conference that McCain had held in front of the Russian Embassy to denounce the "Stalinist politics" of the Empire State GOP in the dispute.

Pataki, who has been mentioned as a possible Bush running mate, had also come under widespread criticism.

"If they're smart, they justhrow open the door and let McCain come crashing through now," Nelson Warfield, a veteran political operative who worked on Bob Dole's 1996 campaign, said.

"Here's Governor Pataki trying to build a national image and now he runs the risk of being seen as that governor who's pro-choice on abortion and anti-choice for president," Warfield said.

Another factor in Pataki's move is a federal court challenge in the dispute by McCain --- a legal fight which the Arizona Senator is expected to win. The judge in that case said a ruling probably would not be issued until Monday at the earliest. But even if McCain lost the case, Pataki spokeswoman Zenia Mucha said the New York Governor was ready to "take the appropriate steps to ensure that he (McCain) is on the ballot."

McCain's New York campaign director, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, said he was pleased with Pataki's decision, but called it "too little, too late." The former congressman said, "they've hurt Governor Bush."

Mucha said, "We believe McCain is hiding behind the issue of ballot access...When ballot access is off the table, it's clear he has nothing to talk about in New York."

Also on Thursday, there was talk that the McCain camp and the New York State GOP were in discussions that might lead to a settlement of the federal case. The delay until Monday for a possible court ruling seemed in line with that.

In a state whose political rules of engagement are widely thought to be byzantine, McCain's cause in New York seems to have struck a chord and could ultimately add to reforming the rules for future Empire State campaigns.

Earlier this week, the controversy took a twist. Bush's name was stricken from ballots in one New York City congressional district, because fraudulent signatures were found on the petitions compiled by some people seeking to become Bush delegates. Lawyers for millionaire publisher Steve Forbes, who is also on the New York GOP primary ballot, had challenged those petitions.

"As you sow, so shall you reap," McCain supporter Molinari said. "That's really ironic. At least we were never accused of fraud."

Molinari is right: McCain was thrown off the ballot in several of state's congressional districts, but never for cheating. Instead, he lacked enough signatures in geographically significant areas.