Plenty of Nothing in New York

New York Governor George Pataki does nothing--brilliantly. He has turned minimalism into a public relations masterpiece. On 9/11 Pataki was there, standing behind the take-charge Rudy Giuliani, looking sad and grave, glowing in reflected light. Everyone swooned. What a leader, they said, such a strong, silent Gary Cooper type. Such a secure team player to let the Mayor hog the cameras.

This same strategy worked well for him this year in his dealings with the divided New York state legislature. Nothing was accomplished, while Pataki remained amiable and almost invisible. Dozens of bills were buried without even a vote, while the public was barely aware Pataki was in charge. He made no waves. He made no enemies. He made no hard decisions. Pataki's minimalist approach, combined with his huge money advantage, the benefits of incumbency and mistakes by his Democratic challenger, State Comptroller Carl McCall, add up to what is likely--but not definitely--to be Pataki's re-election.

Of all the things Pataki didn't do, one of the most significant involves campaign finance reform. Despite having promised such reform for years, he didn't let a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled Assembly that mandated public financing of elections ever come to a vote in the Republican Senate. As a result, Pataki has been able to outspend McCall by more than 10 to 1. With this immense advantage, the Governor blitzed television with negative commercials at the moment McCall had some momentum from Andrew Cuomo's withdrawal before the Democratic primary.

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