Trump Bows Out, as Expected
By Tony Farina
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| Donald Trump |
It was over before it began, the political hoopla generated by Donald Trump’s flirtation with a run for governor against Andrew Cuomo.
Trump pulled the plug on his supporters in the Republican Party last week, many of them from Western New York, when he posted the following on twitter: “I have clearly stated that if the New York State Republican Party is able to unify, I would run for governor and win. They can’t unify-SAD"
So Trump’s brief interest in taking on Cuomo for the GOP-using his own bankroll which had great appeal to the party-- has ended, leaving the daunting task of carrying the Republican banner in the governor’s race to little-known Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino who had already thrown his hat into the ring before Trump ended his headline-grabbing political bid even before it began, confirming suspicions that his effort was more about publicity than politics. The reality TV star and developer got his publicity and made a quick exit. Might say he accomplished his mission.
And now the question is what will 2010 GOP candidate Carl Paladino do? Will he try to run as a Conservative candidate because of his disenchantment with the GOP leadership? Carl isn’t saying just yet, but anyone who knows him even a little bit will tell you that Paladino is full of surprises and rarely backs down from a challenge. However a Conservative run has a major roadblock as State Chairman Mike Long is supporting Astorino. We’ll just have to wait and see what Paladino has up his sleeve, if anything, this time around.
Frankly, it has been hard to concentrate on politics much this year because most everybody is caught up battling the elements-as in cold and snow--and the Erie County Democratic Party is in its usual state of disarray but not from the weather. But we should start to thaw out soon, at least according to the calendar, and the politics may heat up, too, with plenty of action besides the governor’s race with five
State Supreme Court seats up for grabs as well as two high profile State Senate races and an open State Assembly seat in Cheektowaga courtesy of Dennis Gabryszak who resigned under fire from a sex scandal.
There is every reason to believe that winter will loosen its grip on Western New York sometime soon, although that’s not a sure thing as the deep freeze will likely delay the arrival of spring due to the frozen lake waters. But we can hope that somehow this winter, one of the very worst on record, will run out of gas in the next few weeks and let us all emerge into the fresh air again minus several layers of clothing. At least that’s the hope.
In the meantime, let’s all pray for former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly who is battling oral cancer again just a few months after it appeared that surgery had removed the cancer from his mouth and jaw.
Kelly was a fierce competitor on the football field, helping to lead the Bills to four straight Super Bowl games back in the early ‘90s. Unfortunately, the Bills lost all those games, but Kelly remains a huge fan favorite and one of the most popular sports stars to ever play on a Buffalo team. We hope he wins his fight against cancer and will be back out there again soon raising money for his Hunter’s Hope Foundation, named in honor of the son he lost in 2005 to Krabbe disease.