Musical Messages

Rick Lazio is clearly trying to send a message with the theme music for his Senate campaign, reports our sister paper, The Hill.

The Long Island Republican signaled that he’s a political centrist as the loudspeakers on his "Mainstream Express" campaign bus blared the John Fogarty tune "Centerfield" during a stop in Syracuse recently.

Then, in an apparent effort to capitalize on his youthful good looks, and perhaps pick up the women’s vote, Lazio plunged into a crowd in Corning (no, he didn’t cut his lip this time) as the loudspeakers blasted out the 1970’s hit song by Hot Chocolate, "You Sexy Thing."

"We’re just trying to use some high-energy music to get the crowds pumped," Lazio’s aide Dan McLagan told The Daily News before pointing out that the song’s opening line is, "Do you believe in miracles?"

Lazio may have dropped a musical hint that he misses the job he now wants to trade for a Senate seat. At another rally last week, his campaign theme song was "Our House," by Madness.

Maybe Lazio’s Democratic opponent, First Lady Hillary Clinton, will play "I Left My Heart in Syracuse" at her next campaign stop.

The Coup Fallout

Now that the dust has settled on the Albany Coup and The Rudy Chronicles, the rumors are flying.

One political insider told NYConfidential last
week that one overlooked subtext of the aborted overthrow of Speaker Sheldon Silver in the State Assembly was the attempt to clear the path to
City Hall for City Council Speaker Peter Vallone.

Here’s how it would have worked: Queens Dem County head Tom Manton, a Vallone ally, was trying to line up Comptroller Carl McCall’s support to have Alan Hevesi succeed him at State Comptroller when McCall makes his run for the Governor’s mansion in 2002.

With Hevesi out of the Mayoral sweepstakes, the way would be cleared for Vallone to put together a three-borough ticket with Fernando Ferrer for Comptroller and an African-American Council-member from B'klyn (Una Clarke?) for Public Advocate.

But, alas, like many well-planned paths, this one went awry as Silver beat back the Manton-engineered coup by Mike Bragman. Now the Queens delegation in the Assembly and Bragman are left to lick their wounds.

And Vallone is no closer to City Hall than he was before.

He's A Pepper

One name that emerged in the news of late as a political player is billionaire financier and philanthropist Theodore J. Forstman. The former leveraged buyout king, who made his fortune on LBO’s of companies like Dr. Pepper and Gulfstream Aerospace, was mentioned briefly as a GOP alternative to Rudy in the Senate race before he declared that he was not interested in running. Then he made news with an announcement of a multi-million dollar scholarship program for underprivileged children who want to attend private and parochial schools. One little known fact about Forstman is that he’s also involved in publishing — he’s an investor and advisor to the glossy monthly magazine for twenty-somethings, Manhattan File.

Confidentially New York . . .

E-MAIL your items to: NYConf@NewsCommunications.com

NYConfidential by Michael Schenkler with: Tom Allon, Steve Azzara, Peter Catapano, Ira Cohen, Richard Fasanella, Tamara Hartman, Barbara Jarvie, Mike Nussbaum, Dee Richard.