NOT since Pat Barrett presided over the debacle that made hapless Pierre Rinfret the GOP gubernatorial standard-bearer in 1990 – a race in which he almost placed a distant third – has the New York Republican State Committee been in as weak a set of hands as it is today, party insiders agree.
The state GOP (which will host President Bush and the national Republican leadership at Madison Square Garden next year) had, of course, flourished for nearly a decade under the grass-roots-oriented leadership of Williams Powers, the blue-collar-oriented ex-Marine, in the post-Rinfret/Barrett years.
But that golden era came to an abrupt end two years ago, when Powers was succeeded at Gov. Pataki’s direction by the insular, elitist and (most significantly) ideologically anemic chairmanship of Sandy Treadwell, an immensely wealthy, Casper Milquetoast-like trust-funder who, according to numerous past associates, has never had to work a single day in his life.
One of the most famous stories in GOP circles involves Treadwell’s first days as Pataki’s secretary of state in 1995.
After being handed his state-issued paycheck, Treadwell – who has lived his entire life on the wealth created by Joseph Ord, his maternal grandfather and one of the earliest investors in the General Electric Co. – turned to an aide and holding the check aloft said laughingly, “What do you do with one of these?”
His state salary – which would seem like a small fortune to average Republican voters – was just chump change to Treadwell, just as regular Republicans – those lacking six-figure salaries and country club memberships – appear to be small change to the state GOP today.
“The Republican Party under Powers was aggressive and an organization of substance,” observed Queens GOP activist (some would say rebel) Tom Ognibene, the former City Council Republican leader. “Now, under Sandy, the whole thing for the party is to raise money and, as an organization, the state committee is just fluffy.”
A longtime Pataki operative and regular GOP fund-raiser said the difference was this: “Bill Powers was a fighter and Treadwell is not.
“The state party now is just about raising money for Gov. Pataki and his friends.”
And a powerful upstate GOP leader put it this way: “With Bill Powers, there was a sense of the party moving forward as a party, trying to help everybody all around. Now the sense is that the party is just about helping those who are part of their special ‘club.’ “
But what really has many longtime, seriously committed Republicans angry isn’t the party’s isolation from its conservative-oriented base, startling though that is.
What has them angry, and increasingly worried, is the fact that at a time when President Bush is under furious attack from the Democratic Party and its New York luminaries – on the war in Iraq, and on his efforts to restart the nation’s economy, rationalize extreme environmental regulations, appoint quality conservative judges to the federal courts and build stronger majorities in Congress – virtually nothing is being heard in the president’s defense from the New York GOP.
Oh sure, the party faithful receive regular fund-raising letters filled with hot-button rhetoric from Treadwell – ghost-written by professional solicitors – such as this one sent a few days ago.
“The defeat of Sen. Schumer is high on the [priority] list. And so is holding Sen. Clinton accountable when she spouts her ultra-left-wing views . . . Will you help our efforts by renewing your support for the New York Republican Committee today?”
But Treadwell has yet to even find a candidate to take on Schumer.
And Treadwell has given no indication that he has the stomach, much less the strategic know-how, to take the steps to derail Sen. Clinton’s now on-track efforts to run for president in 2008.
Or even to challenge her vow to block the appointment of Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt as the new EPA administrator – in order to punish the Bush administration for allegedly sanitizing Ground Zero air-quality reports.
And it’s not just Democrats whose barbs Treadwell has largely ignored.
Earlier this month, Mayor Bloomberg (a putative Republican) had this to say about the former first lady: “I think Sen. Clinton has been a wonderful senator for New York.”
When a call was placed to Treadwell’s office seeking comment, a spokeswoman insisted he was just too busy to come to the phone.
Perhaps he was on the other line with his broker, going over his complex end-of-the-month statements. Or maybe he was just booking tee times for foursomes – for the New York GOP’s upcoming Westchester County outing.
Fredric U. Dicker is The Post’s State Editor.
