Anyone Better than Paterson Out There?
It’s an ominous moment for one’s career when the President of the United States tells you to quit your job. Granted, it’s the same president who spends his free time micromanaging banks and car companies, but David Paterson can’t feel comfortable about an anti-endorsement that submarines his chances of staying governor.
Regardless, the nation’s head is in agreement with most New Yorkers: Barack Obama disapproves of Paterson. The problem is whether any other candidate will improve on Paterson’s pathetic, distressing, shameful, and risible tenure. Is there anyone who could 1) transform business as usual in the capital after 2) winning first?
In this state, the troublemakers aren’t limited to one particular affiliation: former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno became part of the problem as he abandoned Republicans for the Albany Party. Plus, George Pataki may as well have been a fifth- or sixth-generation Rockefeller considering how willingly he spent tax receipts.
Of course, Democrats aren’t in the clear, especially considering their leading non-Paterson gubernatorial contender. Most notably, Andrew Cuomo may attempt to continue father Mario’s horrific legacy of making New York like East Berlin: he could be another leader who favors taxing and regulating people until they feel hopping over the border is the only option.
Or, this could all be an extraordinary Obama ploy to discard his marginalized secretary of state. That’s if there’s any traction to the so-far unconfirmed rumors that Hillary Clinton is heading back to try to win the governorship of her not-really home state.
As for her 2000 opponent, Rick Lazio could angle for a rematch. The problem is that he mostly got votes from conservatives when he ran for the Senate because he wasn’t the former First Lady, not because he agreed with them on everything.
So, wow, could Rudy Giuliani be the best hope for change? He may not run, and he might make Lazio look like a right-winger by comparison on some social issues. But he would be more than a governor: Giuliani would be in charge.
It’s more about personal style than partisanship. This state has been ruined by closed-room shenanigans throughout recent history, but the dodgy shenanigans would end if the erstwhile mayor got promoted. Giuliani isn’t going to let someone like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver bully him into compromising on anything, especially pertaining to how much of our money to waste.
Giuliani’s just-maybe potential run might be perfectly timed: it would coincide with an election that’s looking to represent voters’ collective breaking point. As with national-level politics, New Yorkers could finally demonstrate that they’re sick of a government that tells them what to do when it’s not spending much of their money.
They may have a reasonable chance to alter the gloomy landscape next year, but it depends on the candidate. The right may be repulsed by numerous Giuliani positions. But he’s, mildly, a law-and-order type who’s also big on slicing taxes. Most importantly, he’d run the state instead of letting Albany run him. If not Giuliani, then yay, go Lazio, although he must show his credentials go beyond being a New York State Republican.
Another Democrat Loser Gets Another High Paying Job
If you thought Joe Mesi’s $70,000/year Senate job wasn’t bad enough…
A Democrat who was ousted by Amherst voters in the 2005 supervisor’s race has landed on her feet with a job in the Democratic-controlled State Senate.
Susan Grelick, who served nine years as Amherst supervisor, started Monday as counsel to the Senate’s Local Government Committee, headed by Westchester Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith deferred questions about her background and salary to Grelick, who said she will be making about $90,000 a year.
I guess second place no longer means you’re the first loser…
Schumer To Leave DSCC
In my opinion, he should have resigned three years ago:
ABC News’ Teddy Davis Reports: New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) is giving up his job running the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee after two successful campaign cycles which saw his party go from minority status under a newly re-elected President Bush to its biggest Senate majority in three decades.
Of course, there is nothing about the DSCC scandal involving two of Schumer’s staffers… but then again, it didn’t get the coverage it deserved when it happened either.
