George,

Actually, the word "piker" refers to someone traveling on a pike, defined as a state highway in older usage [thus, the term "turnpike"]. While I might be stuck in traffic so to speak on this one, it seems to me the Governor [of Virginia] was perhaps wistfully referring to the fact that in New York City, there are numerous state and local agencies with the ability to raise substantial sums for transportation, going back to the days of Robert Moses during the 1930's when the legendary "Empire Builder" in Robert Caro's pulitizer-prize winning book built the many highways which are still crucial to Metropolitan area's transportation grid.

The Governor, anticipating the recent referendums, was wistfully saying he is a mere piker - someone trying to build a new state road or two in NOVA or TIDEWATER to help reduce congestion - compared to Mayor Bloomberg who has huge bridges, a massive subway system, a spectacular series of expressways, and other transportation options at his disposal, not mention a history of massive transportation general obligation bonds.

"I am just a piker" was not a campaign spending reference at all, but rather, sorta of the terra firma lament of the Governor, the word "pike" being also a reference to someone who is trying to climb a symbolic Pike's Peak, named after General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who discovered the 14,000 foot Rocky Mountain in 1807.

Surely, the referendum vote last night suggests the case for seeing the "piker" reference in a light other than you have assumed.

Paul Goldman (electronic mail, November 6, 2002)

Editor's Note: Paul Goldman was chief political strategist for the past two winning Democratic governors in Virginia.

The regional transportation bond issue for Eastern Virginia [Tidewater] lost by 61.62% to 38.38% of the vote. The regional bond issue for Northern Virginia [NOVA] lost by 55& to 45% of the vote (Commonwealth of Virginia, 2002 General Election, November 5, 2002).