Rove Gets His Man

The governor took an unannounced dive into the Charles River in 1996 after signing a rivers protection bill, to show how clean it was.

Bill Weld to Run for NY Gov

The 1996 U.S. Senate race in Massachuesetts with Weld and Kerry was one of mine.

Weld is a tremendous candidate who not only can raise $40 million, but can drink pints of Guinness like a Dubliner on holiday. This guy can lunch with Wall Street and then walk into any NYC neighborhood pub and win support from both economic ends with equal ease.

This may be an omen of things to come with Rove's recruitment of former IL Governor Jim Edgar.

Mr. Weld, a native New Yorker who is now an investment adviser in Manhattan, said he had been encouraged to run by former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, an old friend, among others. Karl Rove, the White House political adviser, who worked for Mr. Weld in the 1990's, had also told him to consider running against Eliot Spitzer.

...Mr. Weld said he believed his years in Massachusetts would translate well here. Were he to win, he would follow in the footsteps of Sam Houston, who was governor of Tennessee and Texas in the mid-19th century. Mr. Weld moved back to New York in 2000.

He also said yesterday that...Mr. Rove "is a friend and someone who knows me well." Mr. Rove expressed the view that Mr. Spitzer was untested as a candidate and potential governor, and that he is far ahead in polls only because of his strong name recognition.

Mr. Weld resigned as governor in 1997 when President Clinton crossed
party lines to tap him as ambassador to Mexico. But Mr. Weld's nomination died at the hands of Senator Jesse Helms, who said Mr. Weld was too liberal on drug legalization and other social issues like gay rights.