The fate of New York’s nervous GOP is riding on the outcome of tomorrow’s presidential primary in Florida, leading state Republicans told The Post.
They said the GOP’s ability to defeat incumbent Democratic US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and retain control of the state Senate later this year depends on Mitt Romney’s ability to decisively beat Newt Gingrich and end the controversial former House speaker’s chances to be their party’s nominee.
Some pro-Romney upstate county chairmen are so nervous that they’ve begun talking about sending an “uncommitted slate’’ of delegates to the GOP nominating convention if Gingrich wins Florida, in hope that a brokered convention would lead to the selection of a better candidate, a county chairman told The Post.
“If Gingrich is successful, wins Florida and goes on to get the nomination, it will be a disaster,’’ said former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, once the state’s top Republican.
“President Obama’s campaign will drop $100 million in TV advertising just to point out Newt’s fantasy story that he was paid as a historian for Freddie Mac while collecting $1.6 million in fees,’’ added D’Amato, who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate.
“And it will culminate with the Obama campaign making a charge that Newt broke the law for failure to register as a lobbyist, which is a federal felony punishable by a fine or imprisonment,’’ said D’Amato, himself a registered federal and state lobbyist.
William Powers, a former state GOP chairman recently named chair of the New York GOP Advisory Council, said, “If it’s Gingrich tomorrow and he goes on to be the nominee, that’s going to create real divisions among Republicans in New York. But if it’s Romney, that can carry all the way through to victories in New York.”
Rockland County-based national GOP pollster and consultant John McLaughlin, who helped run the Fred Thompson and Steve Forbes presidential campaigns, said, “A Gingrich win as the nominee will definitely make it tougher for Republicans in New York.
“Romney comes off as a nicer person than Newt, someone who doesn’t polarize, and he’s culturally a much better fit in New York, especially in the suburbs and upstate,’’ McLaughlin continued.
Repeated public-opinion polls have shown Romney far more popular than Gingrich among New York voters, and state Republicans fear a lower-than-average turnout of GOP voters if Gingrich is the nominee.
The upstate county chairman, meanwhile, said he believed the possibility of an independent slate was being pushed by some local party leaders close to former Gov. George Pataki, who has repeatedly promoted himself as a potential candidate for president.
D’Amato, meanwhile, had some sharp criticism of Romney as a candidate — and said he had relayed the criticism to one of Romney’s former partners at the Bain Capital investment firm.
“Romney doesn’t show passion. His campaign is missing passion,’’ said the former three-term senator.
“Romney looks too much like a politician, as opposed to a man who is committed to the best interest of his country.
“Showing that kind of passion is what he has to do, and I recently transmitted that to one of his old partners at Bain.’’