Rhino
08-02-2007, 10:14 AM
Aug 1, 9:05 PM EDT
NY's Top Republican Turns Tables on Gov.
By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer rolled into office on a promise to clean up and energize a moribund government beholden to special interests, and one of the state's top Republicans looked like a man with a target on his back.
Instead, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has the upper hand on Spitzer - nicknamed the Steamroller - just seven months into the governor's first term and as the GOP fights to keep its slim majority in an increasingly Democratic state.
"Steamrollers don't do very well when the going gets tough. Going uphill, they just spin," Bruno said, "and he didn't know that. But he's finding out now."
The turning point came last week, when Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a report on the Spitzer administration's attempt to embarrass Bruno over flights to New York City on state aircraft.
Cuomo found Bruno's mixed itinerary of politics and policy made the trips legal under the state's loose regulations. But Cuomo condemned two top Spitzer aides for using state police to compile the records on Bruno and for orchestrating media leaks....http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_THE_NEWS_SPITZERS_RIVAL?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
NY's Top Republican Turns Tables on Gov.
By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer rolled into office on a promise to clean up and energize a moribund government beholden to special interests, and one of the state's top Republicans looked like a man with a target on his back.
Instead, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has the upper hand on Spitzer - nicknamed the Steamroller - just seven months into the governor's first term and as the GOP fights to keep its slim majority in an increasingly Democratic state.
"Steamrollers don't do very well when the going gets tough. Going uphill, they just spin," Bruno said, "and he didn't know that. But he's finding out now."
The turning point came last week, when Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a report on the Spitzer administration's attempt to embarrass Bruno over flights to New York City on state aircraft.
Cuomo found Bruno's mixed itinerary of politics and policy made the trips legal under the state's loose regulations. But Cuomo condemned two top Spitzer aides for using state police to compile the records on Bruno and for orchestrating media leaks....http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_THE_NEWS_SPITZERS_RIVAL?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US