The Slant Point's Guy

The Slant Point, a New York City right wing blog, often speaks of Thomas Ognibene, a former councilman from Queens, as the potential savior of the New York Republican Party.

Thomas A. Ognibene, the leading challenger to Mayor Bloomberg in the republican primary, has spoken out against what he describes as the "hardly republican values" of the incumbent. Ognibene, despite the liberal political atmosphere of New York City, and his mere $50,000 of campaign funds, has stayed true to his platform of staunch conservatism on national issues such as gay marriage as well as local ones such as the smoking ban, which Bloomberg supports.

Although the Bloomberg campaign has vowed to take Ognibene's bid seriously, the odds are waged heavily against the former councilman, due to lack of publicity (82% of New Yorkers interviewed could not form an opinion on Ognibene due to lack of knowledge) as well as a history of controversial stances on issues involving race relations. According to the Times, "Ognibene fondly recalls arranging for the legal defense of Bernard Goetz after he shot four black teenagers he thought were about to mug him in 1984".

While Ognibene has a valid point: Mayor Bloomberg is a republican by name only and would be a democratic mayor if he could have won in the democratic primaries, he has little hope of wooing even republicans to the polls in his favor. Remember, new york republicans are not national republicans, it was their distinct pragmatism that nominated a liberal republican in Bloomberg, hence giving them a chance in the general election, rather than a conservative like Ognibene, who could never beat a solid democrat in New York City.

This article at The Metro Section, details a council election involving Rudy Guiliani's cousin, who is running in a GOP council primary against an Ognibene crony.

Conservatives speak in favor of Ognibene at The Slant Point.