This is fun:

New York's small but politically important Conservative Party will pre-empt the Republican Party by holding its state convention to choose nominees for governor and U.S. Senate before the GOP meets, Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said Tuesday.

The move ... puts extra pressure on the GOP because Long and state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik disagree about who should run for governor.

...Long said the convention's selection for governor would "overwhelmingly" be former state Assembly Republican Minority Leader John Faso and its choice to take on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would be former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer.

Minarik also favors Spencer but supports former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld's candidacy for governor in his native New York....

For those who are confused, let me explain: In New York you have the state GOP -- think of it as Dr. Evil -- and the much smaller but usually electorally necessary Conservative Party, which generally walks with the GOP in lockstep -- think of it as Mini-Me. Only now the Doctor and Mini-Me are bickering. They don't agree on a gubernatorial candidate. And they agree on a Senate candidate, but he's an utter embarrassment, plus he's not the candidate The New York Times told us some party bigwigs seemed to be coalescing around mere weeks ago (although that candidate's a bit of a flake herself).

I love this crack-up. I love watching Republicans and Republicans-in-all-but-name fight among themselves. I wish I could share this crack-up with those of you who live in the other 49 states. I wish I knew what mutation would make state-to-state transmission of this virus possible -- or would make it go national all at once.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the spectacle.

(X-posted at Sisyphus Shrugged.)