STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Staten Island Republicans turned the clock back about a dozen years on Saturday, holding an old-fashioned "Team GOP" rally in the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, for Rep. Dan Donovan, highlighted by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Because the Republican Party establishment knows that Donovan has a tough and tight fight on his hands against former Congressman Michael Grimm. And the party itself has a lot at stake on June 26 as well. So it was all hands on deck.
It was fitting that Giuliani was the main attraction. After all, before Staten Island was prime country for President Donald Trump, it was Rudy Country. Without Staten Island, Giuliani never becomes mayor.
The bond was deepened when 9/11 made Giuliani into "America's Mayor." And we all know that the Island proportionally took the biggest hit of all the boroughs on that dark day.
And while Giuliani's halo has dimmed considerably for many, Staten Islanders have stuck with him. Through the divorces. Through the horrific 2008 presidential race. Through the sometimes off-the-wall, snarling media appearances.
And Rudy has kept faith with us. He genuinely likes being here. He eats our pizza. He golfs on our links. He's one of us. At least for some Islanders.
And now Trump-friendly Islanders have the best of both worlds: Giuliani is Trump's avenging attorney, battling on behalf of POTUS in the Russia investigation. The two New Yorkers have a lot in common. There's a bluntness to them both. An impatience with political correctness. A sometimes too-willing embrace of political incorrectness themselves.
If you want an indication of how important this race is to the Republican Party, both here and beyond the Island, know that state party chairman Ed Cox was at the event. State Conservative chairman Mike Long was too. And Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.), among other luminaries.
The event was hosted radio host and former "Saturday Night Live" star Joe Piscopo. Radio host and Reform Party chairman Curtis Sliwa was there. So, a touch of celebrity and star power.
And it wasn't just the presence of Giuliani that made the event feel like old home week. Former Congressman Vito Fossella was in the house, along with elected officials like Borough President James Oddo, City Councilman Joe Borelli, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and Assemblyman Ron Castorina.
It was the kind of event that the borough GOP used to hold as a matter of course. It was their hallmark to all link arms in public no matter how they might really feel about each other backstage. And some of that "all for one" spirit has been missing in recent years.
If Donovan had this race in the bag, such a show of force would hardly be necessary. But now there's an awful lot at stake, for Donovan as well as for the party.
Because should Grimm prevail in the primary and then in the general election, the repercussions will go far beyond Donovan. The Congress member often becomes the de facto head of the party. Everybody who lined up with Donovan on Saturday would then have to reckon with a victorious Grimm.
And you can bet that like Santa Claus, Grimm is making a list and checking it twice.
As with all primaries, the Donovan-Grimm race is all about who pulls their votes out. The turnout is expected to be low. That's really where these elected officials come in. Each has their own base. Each has to goose that base and get their voters to the polls on behalf of Donovan. It won't be their fault if he loses, but it will be to their credit if he wins.
But as a former lawmaker, Grimm has a voter base of his own. He too will have to turn his supporters out on June 26.
Whoever does the better job will get to plan the next GOP unity event.