Early Pataki defenders are in the house. An e-mail:

Just read your post re: Rudy endorsing Pataki.Remember: back in 1994 Pataki was not what he “grew”** into and Mario was Mario. It was an incredibly stupid move by Rudy and it is actually something that I hold against him. Mind you, I support him now to succeed Bush since I think he is a great manager and that is very much what we need now, but Rudy was a real jerk when he endorsed Mario. ** It is hard to remember now, but Pataki actually had a pretty good first three years with tax relief, signing into law a death penalty law, actually cutting some spending. As I wrote above, he “grew” while he was in office.

I’m no Rudy fan, but as a resident of New York…still gets a pass on that one!

Most importantly…I just want to stop talking about Pataki.