Suddenly, State Seems to Have No Shortage of Possible Presidents
By SAM ROBERTS
Published: August 27, 2006
Imagine that it is two years from now, summer of 2008. The national party conventions are over. The nominees: Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican Rudolph W. Giuliani and the Reform Party candidate, Michael R. Bloomberg.
What’s wrong with this picture? It’s implausible, but the very fact that it is considered within the realm of possibility — to say nothing of another Republican in the mix, Gov. George E. Pataki — is remarkable, given that no New Yorker has come close to the top office since Geraldine A. Ferraro ran for vice president in 1984. And not one has been elected president since 1944, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won a fourth term....
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New York has been bereft of successful presidential candidates since Franklin D. Roosevelt won his last term in 1944, so a victor from New York this time would be something of a novelty.
It might not be the only distinction. Mr. Giuliani would be the first Italian-American president if elected. Mrs. Clinton would be the first woman nominated by a major party. Mr. Bloomberg would be the first Jewish nominee for president and, his disclaimers of any national political ambitions aside, he would be the first elected mayor of New York City in nearly 140 years to be elected to another office if he chose to run and subsequently won.
The confluence of factors that have elevated the four New Yorkers to presidential prospects is not entirely coincidental. Since 9/11, New York’s image has grown a bit warmer and fuzzier. Mr. Giuliani’s has become iconic. He and Mr. Bloomberg have reversed the perception that the city is dangerous and ungovernable. Surging immigration has made the demographics of much of America more like those of New York....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/nyregion/27candidates.html 
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