Some blowback at Ed Cox for talking down the possibility of Governor Flanagan:
“… State Republican Chairman Ed Cox’s quick dismissal of talk that state Senate GOP Majority Leader John Flanagan might run for governor in 2018 left some in his party “stunned” and “frustrated.” … Patrick McCarthy, a former state party executive director, was among those who couldn’t understand why his party leader publicly dissed Flanagan, the state’s highest ranking elected Republican …”
Because the notion of him running was so ludicrous it needed to be squashed before it had the chance to take hold and do more damage to the party.
“… At least two Republicans lay some of the blame for the recent uproar on Flanagan himself. They say if he knew word was leaking out that he is considering a gubernatorial run, he should have alerted Cox, who those close to him say was taken by surprise when asked about it by reporters shortly after the report surfaced …”
The public smackdown was much more appropriate.
“… The GOPer said a Flanagan candidacy would face significant hurdles, particularly among upstaters who are angry he voted for Gov. Cuomo’s controversial SAFE Act gun control law. The insider said if Flanagan wants to have a chance to win upstaters back, he’d bring legislation to the floor to repeal the SAFE Act this year. “Some might be criticizing Ed for his response, but I guarantee you there’s an equal amount who were pleased with it,” said one high-profile Republican …”
No, a whole lot of people were happy with Cox’s response.
Senate Republicans will never bring a repeal bill up for a vote because it would require many of their conference to admit they were wrong. Even if they did there’s no reason for the Assembly to follow suit. The Republicans simply do not have enough political clout to move much of an agenda. They have to go along with Cuomo and the Democrats or the hammer will come down on them, they will lose control of the Senate, and that will be the end of it for the party.
Really, at this point Jacob, what good are they really doing? Maybe to hold the line against the next major step (microstamping all semi auto handguns out of NY), I guess. Even that is a question. They could either fold like a cheap suit, and come back with all the same shit as after SAFE (“Ohh we did what we could / no choice………….”), or the coalition breaks up…… They are really almost irrelevant now. Fucking disaster.
Ed Cox needs to go. So do Flanagan, D’Amato, Mondello, McKevitt, etc. Without new leadership the party will fall apart on its own. If that were to happen the NYGOP could be rebooted into a genuine opposition party.