Hussein

On Christmas Day 2006, the number of American deaths in Iraq passed the total number of deaths in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Saddam Hussein was hung.

As 2006 became 2007, we lost our 3,000th service person in the war.

In 2007, the war in Iraq will remain at the forefront of world and national news. Violence in Iraq will spike briefly and we’ll soon go back to the same ol’, same ol’. George Bush will be the not-so-silent minority preaching that we can win the war and cannot quit. At the beginning of the year, there will be an increase of American troops in Iraq.

As the year progresses, the Democratic-controlled Congress will become more and more proactive in demanding a long-range plan, immediate troop reduction and a way out of the war. Some, if not many, Republicans will join Democrats in calling for Bush to “change the course.”

Bush

As year-end approaches, with mounting death toll, continued violence, greater civil Iraqi unrest, a less than cooperative Iraqi government, the American people will begin to take to the streets in protests reminiscent of Viet Nam. Polarization in Congress will reach a fever pitch with anti-war members threatening to cut military funding. The word patriotism will be bandied about by the pro-war Bushies as if it were uniquely their own.

Colin Powell will become vocal of the failed Bush Iraq effort and an end-the-war symbol to the American people. His name will quickly climb to the top of the Republican presidential possibility list and replace pro-war John McCain as the G.O.P. frontrunner.

Powell

Rudy Giuliani will, throughout the year, be the other strong name in play. Powell will declare he is not a candidate and Mitt Romney will challenge Rudy for the hearts of the anti-war Republicans. Newt Gingrich will remain the Conservative Republican’s answer to a sane Iraq policy while maintaining social and fiscal conservatism in the country.

As the year ends and the G.O.P. looks to Iowa, New Hampshire and the ’08 Primaries, Newt Gingrich, most representative of the Republican Primary voter, will emerge as their party’s frontrunner.

Gingrich

The Democrats will be all Hillary. The NY Senator will maintain and increase her lead in the polls and fundraising as the year progresses. John Edwards will fade and Barack Obama will be encouraged to consider the Vice Presidential slot. By year end, the marriage will be solidified and Clinton-Obama will be the popular choice of Democrats going into the Primaries. And the Senator from New York, the wife of the former President, will be in line to become our State’s first Major Party candidate for President since NYS Governor Thomas Dewey lost to Harry Truman in 1948.

Clinton

And the year will end somewhere on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with Mike Bloomberg sitting with Kevin Sheekey, who will encourage that with Hillary on the left and Gingrich on the right – both with huge negatives and both polarizing forces – the opportunity exists for the popular Mayor, who by now has traveled the nation speaking out on issues that matter to him, to come right down the middle of a nation disenchanted with both major parties and capture the minds of a majority of Americans.

And 2007 will turn to 2008 with Mike Bloomberg in the national spotlight as he weighs the possibilities, probabilities and the investment of half a billion dollars of personal funds – he won’t accept campaign contributions – to remake American politics and do for the country what he has done for our City.

Bloomberg

The City will have a good year: crime will remain low, the economy strong and education will continue to improve. Mayor Mike, cooperating with Governor Spitzer, will announce and/or solidify some major capital projects. Ground Zero, the Second Ave Subway, and the Moynihan Station will lead the list. But Citipark replacing Shea, the new Yankee Stadium, the Nets Atlantic Railyard Stadium and lots of affordable housing and new schools will move through the stages from planning to groundbreaking to reality.

Governor Spitzer, who by the third month of the year, will have demonstrated to all in Albany who is boss, will be as aggressive in the Executive Mansion as he was in the AG’s office. His new broom will be sweeping by Day One. Hevesi will be gone, Joe Bruno’s power waning due to the FBI investigation into influence peddling, and the Republican Senate under attack – Republican Senator Mike Balboni heading to the Spitzer administration, will have relinquished his seat which will go Democratic leaving the Guv’s party just two seats shy of control.

Spitzer

As we indicated last week, Spitzer will pick his fight carefully but make it clear that the government chokehold of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is a thing of the past. Spitzer’s overwhelming mandate will be used by him early to establish who has the power. His party capturing of the formerly Republican Balboni seat by March will make it clear to Assembly members that the Governor is not only a player, but the player in town and a sufficient number of them will ally themselves with Spitzer if Silver questions who is the boss.

The year will end with Eliot Spitzer having changed the Albany Culture (amen!) and he will be successfully running New York addressing the bigger problems including the budget deficit, Medicaid fraud, unfunded mandates and education funding in the City. His short range achievements and long range planning will be a refreshing change for a longtime moribund State government. (Spitzer’s successes will remove George Pataki from any consideration of a position on a national ticket or appointment should the Republicans prevail in ‘08). Lobbyists will be marginalized. And government will begin to take on new meaning – serving the people.

Silver

In the aftermath of Hevesi’s chauffergate, elected officials will start scurrying to keep appropriate records of personal service by staff. Some will relinquish government cars. There will be many more reimbursement checks paid by electeds at all levels of government. Fear of getting caught will help further that day when the air from those once-smoked-filled rooms can again be inhaled

The City Council will continue to struggle with their individual futures as the term limit reality begins to set in for 38 of the 51 members. Although they won’t announce an end to their self-serving effort to overturn turn limits, the good government atmosphere fostered by the efforts of Spitzer and Bloomberg will threaten the futures of those who attempt to overturn the will of the people. Both the Mayor and the Governor will make it clear that a unilateral move by the Council will be unacceptable and the people will do the rest. Term limits will quietly become accepted by the Council members as they all start scurrying for new gigs as 2009 approaches.

Brittany Spears and her lack of underwear will disappear. Michael Jackson will only be discussed in Vegas. Paris Hilton will marry someone richer and younger than she is. The person’s sex will not be important, only if the person is “hot” and the press coverage intense.

Hilton

Isaiah Thomas will deservedly get fired as the Knicks prove they fight better than play. Tom Coughlin will do no better with the Giants. The Mets will take a subway series in 7. Baseball steroid abuse will result in several big-name indictments.

Malcolm Smith will solidify his State Senate Minority leadership by targeting potential swing seats early in the cycle. This time, the Queens Dems won’t allow Republican Senator Serf Maltese a bye. Councilman Tony Avella becomes the first to throw his very long shot hat into the ’09 Mayoral ring. Assemblymember Mike Gianaris will quickly climb the Albany Leadership ladder. Nettie Mayerson and Barbara Clark will receive committee chairs previously denied to them as a result of offending the Speaker. A new renewed sense of purpose will come from Albany.

Smith

Queens Councilmembers will make fundraising a priority as they plan for 09 and their post term limited positions. Eric Gioia, David Weprin and Melinda Katz will score record-breaking numbers. Peter Vallone Jr, John Liu and Leroy Comrie, will try to use the press to maneuver their next spots.

Joe Crowley will gain strength as he leads the Democratic troops for Hillary being one of the first County Leaders nationwide to endorse his friend the Senator. Gary Ackerman will develop an allergy to carnations and take to wearing plastic ones over his wife’s and staff’s loud protestations. A Bayside florist will find a non-allergenic hydroponically grown hybrid for the Congressman’s lapel. Anthony Weiner will marry someone richer and younger than he is. The person’s sex will not be important, only if the person is “hot” and the press coverage intense.

Crowley, Ackerma , Weiner

And 2007 will give way to 2008 with good humor, a strong borough, a thriving city, an improving state, and a nation adrift in a world which is marching to several different drummers while our bandleader in Washington plays the tuba.

May the New Year bring only good news to you and yours.