NY: The Banana Republic

In November NY Democrats took control of the state Senate for the first time in 30 years. 6 months in to the session, they may have lost it. Two Democrats have switched sides and now the Republicans have 32-30 majority.

"An historic change in leadership is taking place at this moment and a new bipartisan, coalition is being established that is bringing real reform to the Senate RIGHT NOW," according to a news advisory sent out by the GOP.

The Associated Press reported that two Democrats -- Hiram Monserrate of Queens and Pedro Espada, Jr. of the Bronx -- are poised to announce that they have decided to caucus with the GOP out of anger at Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

The Democrats had trouble organizing the Senate in January as 3 Democrats flirted with the idea of caucusing with Republicans. Same sex marriage was a major part of the battle then. There seemed to be agreement that same sex marriage wouldn’t come up and the Democrats were able to take control. However, as Gov. Patterson’s numbers tanked (he’s polling lower than Client No.9), he tacked left and decided to go for it.

That may not have been the main motivation however as only one of the two involved in today’s move was part of the hold up in January.

Right now, the new “Republicans” are making noise about government reform and it looks like billionaire Tom Golisano (who has run for Governor before and says he’s leaving NY for Florida over high taxes) is some how involved.

The Democrats meanwhile, shut off the lights and pulled the plug on the TV feed on the way out. They say they are still in charge and will go to court if necessary.

I'm looking forward to Rudy running for Governor next year. He might announce soon to capitalize on the chaos or he may wait. If he goes now Andrew Cuomo will likely jump in and that might help the Democrats rally together. The election isn't until '10, so there's no rush.

The problem for Cuomo is ran against Carl McCall in 2002. McCall was the first black elected statewide (he was Comptroller) and the first serious black candidate for Governor. People were not thrilled with Andrew. I don’t think he wants to be the guy who keeps running against black Democrats. Especially if at the end of that road is an ass kicking from Rudy.

Either way the Democrats are about as fucked as you can be in a state like NY.

Not Great: One of the new Republicans, Hiram Monserrate, is under indictment for assault on his girlfriend.

Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican, said Monserrate should resign -and he blasted Democratic leaders for continuing to support Monserrate.

"If we're going to protect people that would abuse women and abuse any body in this fashion, there is something wrong with that," he said.

I'd love to hear Senator Golden's new tune.

Extra Awesome! The second new Republican has some campaign finance violations to deal with.

As someone once said, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

posted by DrewM. at 04:53 PM

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