Writing in the Wall St. Journal (subscription required) Steven Malanga speculates on a Miguel Estrada v. Chuck Schumer race for the New York Senate seat not occupied by Hillary Clinton:
Ronald Reagan once said that most Hispanics were Republicans who “just don’t know it yet.” It isn’t merely ethnic pride that would attract Hispanics to Mr. Estrada, but a growing sense that New York’s increasingly radical Democratic Party is out of step with the cultural values and upwardly mobile aspirations of many Latinos.
Mr. Schumer must run for re-election next year, when an Estrada candidacy in New York would be especially powerful. President Bush will be running for re-election, and the Republican National Convention will take place in Gotham. Having Mr. Bush campaigning with Mr. Estrada throughout the state’s Hispanic enclaves can give a Democrat cold sweats.
If the current Democratic jihad against Mr. Estrada fails, the Republican Party should still consider recruiting another talented Latino candidate to challenge Mr. Schumer in 2004. The party might even consider doing what the Democrats did in the 2000 Senate race: importing their best candidate from somewhere else to vie for the New York seat. Hillary Clinton showed the Republicans how to play that game. Now why not turn the tables?
Schumer is not only the most unprincipled party hack in the Senate, he’s ugly, so Estrada should consider this if the anti-democratic filibuster succeeds.
It would be delicious to see Estrada do that.
I also find myself wondering if Guiliani will try to make that his comeback.
Too bad he didn’t try to oust Pataki for the governorship…