....October 13, 4:33 AM
 
 
   
Queens Takes Another Political Prize

Trib Publisher Michael Schenkler and Senate Dem Leader Malcolm Smith.
By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

Queens is a political power.

It has for decades been the dominant Democratic County organization in the State. A seamless transfer of power to Congressman Joe Crowley after the death of County Leader Tom Manton was attested to last week in the first major instance of political poker in the Crowley era.

South Queens State Senator Malcolm Smith was chosen to lead the Democratic Senate caucus – a group closer to taking control of the State Senate than any time in the past 40-plus years. Smith will replace Manhattan’s David Paterson who did not stand for re-election, opting instead to seek an easy path as Eliot Spitzer’s running mate for Lieutenant Governor. In announcing his victory last week, Smith clearly indicated that winning a majority in the NYS Senate was out of reach this year, but clearly set as his goal taking control of the body in 2008.

If trends continue and Smith’s predicition becomes reality, that would make him one of the State’s “three men in a room.” The Senate Majority Leader, the Assembly Speaker and the Governor have for decades ruled the State roost seeking little input from others.

With Eliot Spitzer an apparent shoo-in for Governor and the NYS Assembly so heavily Democratic that Sheldon Silver or a possible 2008 Dem replacement will head that body, Smith’s success in capturing a majority would, for the first time in my lifetime, put three Democrats in the room of power. (Brief weekend research can’t seem to locate a previous time when all three positions were held by Dems. We have back tracked more than 60 years without success. Better informed readers are invited to let us know when the Dems last controlled the State’s two houses and the Governor’s Mansion.)

Smith walked away with the prize after weeks of political maneuvering. Score a big one for him one for Crowley who helped him, and one for Queens.


LOOKING BACK

“In 2000, as a result of a strange incident, we first encountered both State Senator Smiths -- Malcolm and his fellow Southeast Queens State Senator Ada Smith. Excerpts from our June 15, 2000 column follow:

“The State’s newest Senator dropped by the office to introduce himself: bright and engaging, this protégé of Southeast Queens political guru Reverend Floyd Flake is going places. He’s knowledgeable and confident and seems to have his priorities straight. Hopefully, he’ll stay on course and not let the system corrupt or divert him.

We briefly discussed our column of two weeks ago where we disclosed that he and Senator Ada Smith had sent out identical press releases on the state budget, containing identical quotes. The release was actually Malcolm’s but also was sent out as Ada’s due to a Democratic minority staff error; a different one belonged to Ada.

So we had a reporter call Ada, who was unpleasant and rude on the telephone and questioned why we would ask about a release when it was a “clerical” error. Our reporter requested Ada’s correct release on the budget and was informed there was none.

Senator Ada Smith had a two page 700-plus word release sent out in error which was the property of Senator Malcolm Smith. There has been no retraction, correction or replacement release sent out by or on behalf of Ada. Therefore, all the media who have not read my column still think Ada’s release was her own. She continues to take credit for Malcolm’s words.

Should she put in writing that due to a clerical error (on the part of others) she mistakenly issued a release and used quotes belonging to another?

In private industry, such transgressions – between companies – would be dealt with by litigation and financial settlements. If within a company, someone’s head would likely roll and apologies would be issued. For our kids in school, suspensions, expulsions and punishments are meted out for using the words of another and not accepting responsibility and acting appropriately when discovered.

In the State Senate, they dismiss it as an error and Senator Ada Smith is annoyed when we ask.

Hey Ada, it could have been as simple as: “Yesterday, the State Senate minority staff sent out under my name a press release belonging to my colleague Malcolm Smith. Although I agree with the content and statements of Senator Malcolm Smith, the release and statements belong to him. My statement on the state budget follows...”

That’s how it would have been handled in the real world.

I guess school children and private industry have higher standards than government.

Ada’s been around awhile.

We sure hope the same values don’t rub off on Malcolm.”

Now, six years later each Queens Senator Smith has apparently been rewarded with what they deserve.
We wish Malcolm well.

Michael Schenkler can be reached via this contact form.

 
 
One Month And Counting: NYS Races Are Runaways

Henry Stern
By HENRY J. STERN

Election Day is less than 1 month from today, and in New York State everyone predicts Democratic victories by wide margins. The undecided issue now is whether this momentum will enable the Democrats to gain control of the State Senate, which has been Republican since 1966 (40 years).

At this time, the Republicans hold 35 seats and the Democrats 27. If the Democrats win four Republican seats, the parties will be tied at 31-31. If the new Lieutenant Governor is David Paterson, which appears likely, he will vote for the Democrat, so four turnovers are needed for the Democrats to take control of both houses of the State Legislature. The Assembly has been gerrymandered into a Democratic majority that exceeds two to one.

The United States Senate has been Republican since 1995.

The Senate Democrats (including independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont and independent candidate Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, now hold 45 seats, the Republicans have 55. The Democrats will need to pick up six seats to organize the Senate, since a 50-50 tie would be broken by Vice President Cheney, whose allegiances are well known.

Some 33 Senate seats are being contested this year. According to the New York Times, there are 13 safe Democratic seats and seven safe Republican seats. There are six leaning Democratic: (Washington, Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland); two (Arizona and Virginia) are leaning Republican. Five seats are regarded as toss-ups (Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, New Jersey and Rhode Island).

If the leaners go as predicted, the Democrats would have to win all five toss-ups to get the minimum of 51 votes they need. So at this time the Republicans appear to have an advantage, unless the Foley affair and events yet to come swing more seats to the Democrats. Digressing for a moment, if any reader is curious as to the instant messaging of Maf54 (Foley), he (or she) can find the link online. Remember, however, e-mail is evidence mail.

Turning back to New York State, this is the first time in my recollection that all the state-wide elections have appeared to be one-sided. The primaries were more vigorously fought than the general election is likely to be. Although the action will probably warm up somewhat as Election Day, Nov. 8, approaches, the results are not now considered to be in doubt. Nonetheless, in politics anything can happen, ask the former Congressman from Florida or the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Where one candidate is far ahead of his/her rival, it is very difficult for the candidate who is behind to raise money, since a contribution will not only fail to affect the outcome of the election, but is likely to incur the ill will of the probable winner. This makes it even more difficult for a trailing candidate to attain traction, much less gain on the leader. Elections are now often decided well before they are held.

It is known that Mayor Bloomberg, who did not seek any campaign gifts for himself, was distressed when he saw that people he knew, and people and organizations he had helped financially, were contributing to his opponents. The groups thought they were buying insurance policies because the City Council also helped fund them. They were, however, incurring the displeasure of a man who had supported these charities for years. His chagrin is understandable. And there has been no evidence of any financial retribution to those who made injudicious contributions. Dinner invitations, maybe.

While we are writing about our mayor, we take note of the possible impact of his entering the Presidential race. That would give the State of New York the unprecedented total of four candidates (in alphabetical order, Bloomberg, Clinton, Giuliani and Pataki, two of them Republicans, one independent and one Democrat). We welcome the mayor’s consideration of a candidacy, real or not, because it adds to his national stature. He is organizing more than 100 mayors on behalf of gun control and will pursue other issues which falter in a Congress dominated by rurals. The fact that both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are not considered as competitors for President adds credibility to their joint civic endeavors. The mayor’s alliance with Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida on improving education shows an inclination to reach out for allies, which is unfortunately no longer a widespread practice in our divided and partisan Congress.

It was 514 years ago that, looking for India, Columbus landed in the Bahamas. Think of what has happened since.

Starquest@NYCivic.org

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Michael Schenkler can be reached via this contact form.