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Joseph Bruno, Sticking With Rudy Giuliani

January 28, 2008

Despite nervous talk among New York Republicans, some of whom are already laying plans to abandon Rudy Giuliani after Florida (assuming the polls are correct, and he fails to win or even come in second), Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said today he’s sticking with the former mayor as long as he stays in the race.

“We are not going anywhere until Rudy Giuliani makes his own life decisions,” Bruno said. “All that we know now is that he is in and staying in. And we’re there. I’m not backing off in any way, nor is my conference. I like John McCain a lot. I like Gov. Romney a lot. Gov. Huckabee is, you know, very, very viable. So, we’re very fortunate.”

Asked whether he is disappointed with Giuliani’s Florida-or-bust strategy, and also whether he’s concerned that not having the former mayor at the top of the ticket could hurt the Republicans’ chances of holding the Senate this fall, Bruno replied:

“They didn’t ask me, and I’m not going to second-guess them, OK? If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, then he made a mistake. We’re fine. We got so many presidential contenders that are terrific, and any one of them could become president, so we’re going to become fine.

Bruno’s impromptu Q-and-A took place outside a conference room on the seventh floor of the LOB, where Mayor Bloomberg was hosting a lunch for the city’s legislative delegation (and several lobbyists) at city taxpayers’ expense.

Recall that Bloomberg has been a major financial benefactor of the Senate majority, and (according to Bruno, anyway) has promised to continue to “be supportive” despite the fact that he is no longer an enrolled member of the GOP.

Since 2000, Bloomberg has contributed more than $2.44 million to the state Republican Party and at least $290,000 to the Senate Republicans, but has not made any contributions to either since last winer.

Despite the fact that the Bloomberg event was funded with public dollars, it was closed to the press. We were able to linger the hall and look longingly through the door, where we could see Bloomberg, his political guru Kevin Sheekey, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, and the city’s lobbyist, Michelle Goldstein, schmoozing with the guests.

Bloomberg Press Secretary Stu Loeser and spokesman Farrell Sklerov babysat…I mean…kept members of the media company in the hallway.

Source: NY Daily News

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