Rep. Sweeney Seen as GOP Rising Star

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Not everyone has a nickname given to him personally by the president, and only one has been dubbed "Congressman Kick-Ass."

Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., earned the moniker as a sharp-elbowed advocate for George W. Bush in the 2000 Florida recount fight, where the congressman's take-no-prisoners and lower-no-voice approach earned the notice of the president-to-be.

It was at a St. Patrick's Day party at the White House the following spring that President Bush gave Sweeney a hug, a kiss and a nickname.

"There's my Congressman Kick-Ass," Bush said.

"I guess there are worse things to be considered," said the third-term congressman. "I think it's reflective of his acknowledgment that I am passionate. One of the advantages, and I suppose maybe disadvantage, of having me involved in any endeavor is that I bring passion to it - I don't get involved in anything halfheartedly."

Sweeney's intensity, and his recent willingness to cross his political mentor, Gov. George Pataki, suggest to many that he may have his eye on statewide office, possibly governor.

"He is one of the rising and future stars of our party, and certainly he is on his way to running statewide," said state Republican Chairman Alexander Treadwell. "He is very talented, very hardworking and he is a fighter."

Pataki is currently serving his third term, and would be up for re-election in 2006, if he chooses to seek another term.

Sweeney, 47, is unusually circumspect when asked whether he wants to be governor, saying the question is flattering but he is consumed by his current job. When pressed, he does speak fondly of the authority to get things done that comes with the executive branch of government.

Sweeney, whose hard-charging style as executive director of the state GOP helped engineer Pataki's defeat of then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1994, went on to become the new governor's state labor commissioner and later a top aide to Pataki in the state Capitol.

Treadwell said the congressman's enthusiasm can be personally painful, at times, noting that when Sweeney worked for the state GOP, he would often playfully rabbit-punch colleague Treadwell.

"I would go home with bruises all over my arm," Treadwell said, laughing. "John Sweeney taught me how to swear."

The two couldn't be more different. While Treadwell is "old money," Sweeney was born in Troy, N.Y., to a working-class parents. His father was a union leader and Sweeney grew up as a John Kennedy Democrat.

When a fellow conservative Republican, Gerald Solomon, decided to retire from Congress in 1998, the mustache-wearing Sweeney made the move to enter electoral politics as a candidate.

Since his election, Sweeney said he has learned to temper his forceful personality.

"I feel more confident in the fact that I have learned everything doesn't have to be a confrontation here," said Sweeney. "It's easier to use the keys on doors than kick them down."

But others on the opposite side of the aisle said they've seen little evidence that Sweeney's letting up.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Queens Democrat viewed by many as a future candidate for mayor of New York, remembers a congressional baseball game in which Sweeney, the pitcher, nearly beaned him.

"As we say in baseball, Sweeney played me a little chin music," the right-hand batting Weiner recalled. "It was all in good fun, but you also had the sense that behind the smile, he takes things deadly seriously. He was also just to the right of the plate every time."

Weiner said that while he likes Sweeney and works well with him, "I wouldn't vote for him in a thousand years."

While Sweeney is widely viewed as a potential gubernatorial candidate for 2006, there are obstacles. Foremost is the fact that former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may be interested in the job. Then, there is the matter of money. As an upstate Republican, Sweeney isn't exactly a household name in the marble corridors of the Wall Street investment houses that so often provide the financing for GOP candidates.

Recently, Sweeney did raise his profile downstate by lobbying hard for federal homeland security money to go directly to New York City, siding with Mayor Michael Bloomberg over Pataki in a dispute over how the money should be divided.

The move earned the upstate lawmaker attention and praise in downstate political circles, but further strained his relationship with the governor. The two had earlier clashed over dredging PCBs from the upper Hudson River, an area represented by Sweeney. Pataki won that battle when the Bush administration decided to approve dredging.

Sweeney said his relationship with his former boss was strained for a while, but has been repaired.

"On a personal level, we are very close friends," said Sweeney, adding that when it came to the funding dispute, "I think that strain may continue, but everybody's recognizing we're headed in the right direction."