Fred Dicker of the New York Post names his winners and losers for 2004. Top on his loser list: New York Gov. George Pataki:

Gov. Pataki, sinking in the polls, blamed for the collapse of the state GOP and increasingly blamed � even by his fellow Republicans � for the nation's most dysfunctional government.

Pataki oversaw a Republican organization that ran Howard Mills for U.S. Senate against Sen. Chuck Schumer - and Mills' campaign became one of the most pathetic in state history. At the same time, Schumer, Sen. Hillary Clinton and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have all become stars among national Democrats with little to no opposition in their home state.

When he stunned the country by beating Mario Cuomo for the governorship, Pataki did so largely on a campaign that pledged to restore the death penalty to New York. He signed capital punishment back into law, but it was a law so flawed that not a single New York killer has been executed since and the state's highest court, essentially, threw the law out this year.

Pataki also signed legislation designed to make commuting easier - by creating more night-time road construction in the state. Ever since, more and more construction has been moved to daytime hours again and navigating the Long Island Expressway is, again, a joke.

And, as Dicker points out, New York is still the most heavily taxed state in the country.

Possibly the one positive is that, if Pataki runs for another term, New York will likley be spared the same fate as Washington.