He remained a nominal Republican of indistinct politics who, before his first run for mayor, hadn't wrestled seriously with even so basic a political issue as abortion.

Most were nominal Republicans; some were Democrats, but they crossed party lines depending on issues and personalities.

"A nominal Republican in a Democratic administration doesn't seem to be of interest to anybody," he says about crossing party lines.

Some of his positions - raising taxes, specifically - have been surprising, coming from a businessman and a nominal Republican.

But it also gave Mr. Bloomberg, a nominal Republican, the opportunity to send his messages about stemming illegal gun trafficking and improving the environment to a potentially receptive national audience.

Yet the left's hegemonic control of the media had once again cowed a nominal Republican into averring to the left's preposterous demonization of Republicans.

Glamour and Politics Until then, she had been, by her account, a socialite and a nominal Republican, interested chiefly in the glamour of the international set.

Now he has been succeeded by another nominal Republican, Michael R. Bloomberg, who also sounds more agnostic than partisan.

As a nominal Republican, he drafted the Twentieth Amendment, created the Tennessee Valley Authority, and co-authored the Rural Electrification Act.

Then, the day after Michael Bloomberg, a nominal Republican, was sworn in, Mr. Silver let it be known that if he has his way, the Board of Education is here to stay, in one form or another.