Thursday, December 11, 2008
How to be Governor Paterson and keep friends
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Governor David Paterson has several headaches besides the failing economy, the collapse of Wall Street and its tax dollars, and the state budget shortfalls. Now the rule of the three historic feudal chiefs may be splitting up.
The most frenzied activity is in the election of Senate leadership. It has long been guessed that keeping Senate in Republican hands has given the Democratic governors a fine excuse for breaking election promises and unfulfilled harebrained commitments and such, all items that the Senate has stopped. Now that 32 Democrats have been elected to the Senate, a majority over the 30 Republicans, the innuendoes should have ceased and politics should be simple. Come baton-passing time, the Minority Leader, Malcolm Smith should be easily elected Majority Leader, and life would go on, with all leadership roles and responsibilities in one party.
Not no. There are three Democratic senators who did not want Smith and would vote with the GOP to create a 33 member majority for re-electing the incumbent Republican Dean Skelos as the Majority Leader. Why? Well, two Bronx senators, Pedro Espada Jr. and Ruben Diaz, want the Hispanics to have more of a role in government, and Karl Kruger of Brooklyn agrees. They also gave gay-marriage issues, and doubts about Malcolm Smith, who has luggage – a paternity lawsuit, two failed construction businesses, and a conversion, from Catholicism to join the church of his mentor, Rev. Floyd W. Flake. The Gang of Three knew full well that they would be under pressure from fellow legislators, also Albany and Washington, but the 2010 re-election is far away, and who knows..
Well, the Gang forced a deal, with the aid of Sen. Gregory Meeks, Rev. Flake’s successor, and of Tom Golisano the Buffalo financier and Governor-hopeful. It is not quite certain that Smith has agreed 100 percent, in fact as of 12/9 he denies it. What a complex deal!
It seems that the Majority Leader role is two-part, the basic ML being head of the conference of the majority party, elected by his party peers . Additionally, the ML also serves as President Pro-Tempore, that is head of the entire Senate. Past MLs, Joe Bruno and Dean Skelos, held both designations. Now Malcolm Smith, for the sake of a compromise, has accepted the President Pro-Tem role, letting Espada be the ML. and apportioning Sen. Bill Stachowski of Buffalo to role of the Deputy ML, finally a major influential job for the neglected upstaters (23 0f 32 Democratic senators are from NYC area). Sen. Jeffrey Klein, an important organizer and fund-raiser from the Bronx who was the Deputy Minority Leader, will become the Deputy President Pro-Tem, an undefined role. With Stachowski’s move Karl Kruger gets to be the head of the powerful Finance Committee, approving finance bills before they reach the entire membership.
What is the local impact to us, Midtown Manhattanites? For one, there were no women mentioned, and with the departure of US Sen. Hillary Clinton for State Department, the demand that her Senate seat be given to a woman has strengthened.
There is a major rush the vacant US Senate seat, and the pressure is on Gov Paterson, who makes the appointment. It impacts our area, because Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who has represented our District (Manhattan East Side, part of Queens) since 1994, is a declared candidate. Our Assembly District Democratic clubs have a great deal of interest in backing her.
There are some half a dozen other candidates, including women of stature, such as Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, ready to claim this seat. A sentimental favorite, pushed by her Senator uncle, is Caroline Kennedy, a friend of the President-Elect. He admires and loves her, but seriously asks to be kept out of NYS politics. No matter who his interim appointee is, Gov. Paterson will lose some friends.
There is more than friendship at stake. Up until a few months ago Gov. Paterson was not given much of a chance against Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010. Now the Mayor is committed to a third term race, and in any event has lost some of his dollar-a-year savior shine. That gives Paterson a good shot to be elected, provided he handles the economic emergency and the budget shortfall – and he is doing it – and no heavy-weight Democrat decides to run. The strongest opponent to date would seem to be Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who’s also been working hard, and very much by the book. Political strategy would dictate that the junior Cuomo be given the Senate appointment.
Paterson has another gender issue in the appointment of a successor for Judith S. Kaye, New York’s chief judge, who is reaching age 70, the obligatory retirement age. This must be completed by mid- January, from the panel of seven candidates recommended by a state panel. The recommendations include two sitting judges of the Court of Appeals, two other judges and three lawyers, but no women. More anon.
Governor David Paterson has several headaches besides the failing economy, the collapse of Wall Street and its tax dollars, and the state budget shortfalls. Now the rule of the three historic feudal chiefs may be splitting up.
The most frenzied activity is in the election of Senate leadership. It has long been guessed that keeping Senate in Republican hands has given the Democratic governors a fine excuse for breaking election promises and unfulfilled harebrained commitments and such, all items that the Senate has stopped. Now that 32 Democrats have been elected to the Senate, a majority over the 30 Republicans, the innuendoes should have ceased and politics should be simple. Come baton-passing time, the Minority Leader, Malcolm Smith should be easily elected Majority Leader, and life would go on, with all leadership roles and responsibilities in one party.
Not no. There are three Democratic senators who did not want Smith and would vote with the GOP to create a 33 member majority for re-electing the incumbent Republican Dean Skelos as the Majority Leader. Why? Well, two Bronx senators, Pedro Espada Jr. and Ruben Diaz, want the Hispanics to have more of a role in government, and Karl Kruger of Brooklyn agrees. They also gave gay-marriage issues, and doubts about Malcolm Smith, who has luggage – a paternity lawsuit, two failed construction businesses, and a conversion, from Catholicism to join the church of his mentor, Rev. Floyd W. Flake. The Gang of Three knew full well that they would be under pressure from fellow legislators, also Albany and Washington, but the 2010 re-election is far away, and who knows..
Well, the Gang forced a deal, with the aid of Sen. Gregory Meeks, Rev. Flake’s successor, and of Tom Golisano the Buffalo financier and Governor-hopeful. It is not quite certain that Smith has agreed 100 percent, in fact as of 12/9 he denies it. What a complex deal!
It seems that the Majority Leader role is two-part, the basic ML being head of the conference of the majority party, elected by his party peers . Additionally, the ML also serves as President Pro-Tempore, that is head of the entire Senate. Past MLs, Joe Bruno and Dean Skelos, held both designations. Now Malcolm Smith, for the sake of a compromise, has accepted the President Pro-Tem role, letting Espada be the ML. and apportioning Sen. Bill Stachowski of Buffalo to role of the Deputy ML, finally a major influential job for the neglected upstaters (23 0f 32 Democratic senators are from NYC area). Sen. Jeffrey Klein, an important organizer and fund-raiser from the Bronx who was the Deputy Minority Leader, will become the Deputy President Pro-Tem, an undefined role. With Stachowski’s move Karl Kruger gets to be the head of the powerful Finance Committee, approving finance bills before they reach the entire membership.
What is the local impact to us, Midtown Manhattanites? For one, there were no women mentioned, and with the departure of US Sen. Hillary Clinton for State Department, the demand that her Senate seat be given to a woman has strengthened.
There is a major rush the vacant US Senate seat, and the pressure is on Gov Paterson, who makes the appointment. It impacts our area, because Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who has represented our District (Manhattan East Side, part of Queens) since 1994, is a declared candidate. Our Assembly District Democratic clubs have a great deal of interest in backing her.
There are some half a dozen other candidates, including women of stature, such as Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, ready to claim this seat. A sentimental favorite, pushed by her Senator uncle, is Caroline Kennedy, a friend of the President-Elect. He admires and loves her, but seriously asks to be kept out of NYS politics. No matter who his interim appointee is, Gov. Paterson will lose some friends.
There is more than friendship at stake. Up until a few months ago Gov. Paterson was not given much of a chance against Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010. Now the Mayor is committed to a third term race, and in any event has lost some of his dollar-a-year savior shine. That gives Paterson a good shot to be elected, provided he handles the economic emergency and the budget shortfall – and he is doing it – and no heavy-weight Democrat decides to run. The strongest opponent to date would seem to be Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who’s also been working hard, and very much by the book. Political strategy would dictate that the junior Cuomo be given the Senate appointment.
Paterson has another gender issue in the appointment of a successor for Judith S. Kaye, New York’s chief judge, who is reaching age 70, the obligatory retirement age. This must be completed by mid- January, from the panel of seven candidates recommended by a state panel. The recommendations include two sitting judges of the Court of Appeals, two other judges and three lawyers, but no women. More anon.
Labels: Andrew Cuomo, Carolyn Kennedy, Carolyn Maloney, Governor David Paterson, Judith S. Kaye, Malcolm Smith
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 2:51 PM 
