Dems urge Suozzi to let ‘fat cat’ goI'm going to add my voice to the chorus: Tom, you gotta get this guy out of your camp, now. The stench of your candidacy, whether you win or not, will destroy the political machine you have so carefully built over the past decade. You have a great shot at the gubenatorial nod in 2010, should Spitzer fail, and undoubtedly stand a better chance for a Senate nomination in 2008 to replace Chuck Schumer (who may have his own windmills to tilt at by then).
Suozzi asked to cut ties with billionaire who vowed ‘holy war’ on gubernatorial candidate Spitzer
BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD AND RICK BRAND
STAFF WRITERS
December 15, 2005, 9:42 PM EST
Democratic leaders from across the state are urging Thomas Suozzi to renounce the billionaire "Republican activist" who has pledged to raise money for the Nassau county executive's possible 2006 gubernatorial primary against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Suffolk Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer and his Schenectady County counterpart, Robert Brehm, circulated an e-mail to Democrats throughout the state Wednesday. They criticized Suozzi's relationship with Kenneth Langone, the Home Depot co-founder, and called him a "corporate fat cat."
"Ken Langone is a man who has showered radical Republicans across the country with campaign donations," Schaffer and Brehm wrote, asking the Democrats to sign on to a letter they plan to send Suozzi asking him to disassociate himself from Langone. They expect at least 25 to do so.
"As we all know, politics is a tough game and sometimes makes for strange bedfellows. But do we really think that Tom Suozzi -- a lifelong Democrat -- should be working with this man to bring down the AG?"
Suozzi's campaign manager, Kim Devlin, said the letters were "typical insider clubhouse politics."
"No one can question Tom Suozzi's Democratic credentials," she said.
While the Democratic leaders did not ask Suozzi to back off challenging Spitzer, the party favorite for governor, their message indicates that Langone, 70, of Sands Point, is likely to become a major campaign issue.
Spitzer is suing Langone, a former board member of the New York Stock Exchange, for fraud in connection with a $187.5-million pay package given to the NYSE's former chief executive, Richard Grasso. In New York magazine this week, Langone was quoted as saying he wanted to start a "holy war" against Spitzer by funding a Suozzi candidacy.
You have an amazingly bright future ahead. Don't fuck it up.
UPDATE: Meanwhile, Jeannine Pirro is looking at even worse news, according to workingfamiliespartyman:
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro would be trailing Mark Green (D) and Andrew Cuomo (D) if she were to join the race for New York Attorney General. Green would lead Pirro, 43% to 35%, while Cuomo would beat Pirro, 49% to 32%.I'd say "LOL!", but it's almost too pathetic...
In the Senate race, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) leads Pirro, 62% to 30%.
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