In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, around-the-clock news coverage made once mainly regional political figures Rudolph Giuliani and George E. Pataki household names nationwide.

But with Giuliani now beyond his term of public service as mayor of New York City, only Pataki will have the opportunity to see how his actions during the deadliest attack on U.S. soil will affect his race for another term as governor.

“The primary effect in New York state is that it gave Pataki a huge bump,” said Jeffrey Stonecash, a political science professor. “And it has stuck.”

Because of this popularity, Stonecash added that it will be an uphill battle for any opponent, namely Republican Tom Golisano and, thanks to the recent departure of Andrew Cuomo from the race, now uncontested Democrat and current state Comptroller H. Carl McCall.

Yet specifically making mention of the tragedy, and more specifically being perceived as making it a partisan issue, seems to be taboo. Early in his campaign Cuomo made several remarks about Pataki only following Giuliani’s lead during the rebuilding efforts. Those remarks drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats alike. Even Pataki’s spokeswoman Molly Fullington refused official comment on how her campaign is handling the Sept. 11 issue, saying only that it should be left for political pundits to decide.

Stonecash offered some advice on how the Pataki campaign could deal with the situation.

“I would make sure that there were some very understated commercials that make mention of it,” he said.

Rogan Kersh, a political science professor also, said that it would be unlikely for a voter to not see at least a few pictures of Pataki from the days in question, although he added that those should mostly be geared toward the New York City constituents as opposed to those in Central New York.

The political ramifications of the events on this race may even be less than people may think, Kersh said.

“Americans have short political memories,” he said.

He added that the elections a year ago were surprisingly even despite Republican President George W. Bush experiencing soaring approval ratings and nationwide popularity.

Pataki’s opponents seem to agree that this race should be squarely focused on the governor’s record. Although he said that the economic factors of Sept. 11 could not be denied, Golisano spokesman Ernest Maynard said that voters are paying attention to much more.

“What people in New York are interested in are how they are going to create jobs and how they are going to lower taxes,” he added.

Serena Torrey, spokeswoman for McCall said that her candidate believes the biggest political effect from Sept. 11 favors no one candidate.

“Comptroller McCall thinks that this is just another reason why New Yorkers should be more involved in the democratic process,” Torrey said.

She added that it will take someone with a visionary leadership to get New York fully rebuilt.

Kersh said that he would be surprised if Sept. 11 rose to be the most important issue in the race solely because of the local nature of the position.

“It does not seem to me that 9/11 is going to be the 800-pound gorilla,” Kersh said. “Governor’s don’t have a foreign policy.”

Published on September 10, 2002 at 12:00 pm