Interesting. I didn't know that. I had just assumed he was that rare beast: a moderate Republican, like Guliani.

No, I think he was a registered Democrat until the day he decided to run for office. The problem in NY is that there are far too many Democrats who have been in city office forever, so there is no way for someone new to make any sort of inroads as a democrat, thus...

Of course his financial background does also give him a lot of credibility as a republican.