Is Steve Levy really considering a switch to the GOP?

The Republicans on RedState.com are calling the GOP a "growth industry" in the North East, as they're already dancing beneath the goalposts over their supposed win today in blue Massachusetts.

They're now just short of predicting that Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy will be switching parties in his run for the Governor's seat.

In regards to a NY Daily News article where the Albany County Republican Chair, they're convinced that a party change is in the cards.

The fact that Levy is even considering switching parties to seek the governorship is in part a testament to the weakness of the field. That said, Levy has run with Republican endorsements before - as recently as in 2007, in fact. But he would not be considering this bid if he did not see a golden opportunity to win the highest office in the state.

The Albany Republican Party Chair, John Graziano is impressed with Levy and said he would be willing to support him, as long as he switches parties.

RedState.com, however, is treating this scenario (especially that Levy has been endorsed by the GOP in the past) as somehow unique to New York politics. Little to they know that in the land of fusion politics and Wilson-Pakula, these kind of machinations are common, and while they sometimes bear fruit, they're more likely some wishful thinking by desperate political insiders.

My thoughts are that this scenario has probably been hatched by new New York GOP Chair Ed Cox, who's son Chris is hoping for the party's nod to challenge Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop in the 1st CD.

Perhaps Cox & Co. see the possibility of Levy running as a Republican and to help the Nixon bloodline back into DC [shudder].

But it should also be noted that:

Levy, whose aides have steadfastly refused to confirm or deny reports that he is meeting with GOP leaders, including state Chairman Ed Cox, has run on the GOP and Conservative lines in the past and drawn heated criticism from Latino Democrats for his right-leaning stance on immigration.

All this says to me is that Levy is flattered by the attention. He's not even considered a strong Democratic Gubernatorial candidate. It's pretty pitiful if the New York Republicans can't find a better candidate of they're own and they feel the need to poach relatively nameless also-rans in hopes of beating Paterson or Cuomo.

Sorry, RedState, rather than seeing this as part of your GOP "growth industry" in the North East, I see this as the state party grasping at straws while hoping that party switching by Levy would help get Tricky Dick's grandson in Congress.

Political maneuvers are rarely so tidy in New York.