GOP Keeps Up Mayor Mike's Walk of Shame Back to Party

The next step in Mayor Bloomberg's quest to find his way back on the ballot as a Republican this fall will be a meeting Wednesday morning with the GOP chairs from each of the five boroughs. Since the group has the power to block the mayor from running on the Republican line if three heads vote against it, they certainly have been enjoying a rare moment in the sun. One told the News that even after Wednesday they are likely to continue to make Bloomberg "sweat it out." As for talk that GOP big shots Giuliani and Pataki have been throwing their weight around to help Bloomberg's cause, one of the heads told Elizabeth Benjamin, "I don't see how this is such tremendous pressure - what did Pataki and Giuliani ever do for the party?" The News says that now there is talk of former City Council Minority Leader Tom Ognibene, who, as a conservative, got 3% of the 2005 vote, being recruited to head the Republican ticket.