NY Dems in crisis = NY state in crisis

Four years ago, when then-Governor Eliot Spitzer won a sweeping mandate to change politics in New York state, the Democratic Party was a juggernaut.

Republicans couldn’t manage to win a single statewide office.

Joe Bruno, the Republican Senate majority leader was already under investigation by Federal authorities. (He was later convicted.)

GOP control of the Senate — their last bastion of power in the Empire state — was crumbling.

As we slouch toward the Novembe 2010 midterms, all that has changed.

Not because of a Republican resurgence, but because the Democratic Party has proven itself to be almost unbelievably inept and corrupt.

Consider the track record of these four years:

-Eliot Spitzer resigned after admitting to liaisons with prostitutes, and after the lingering scandal of Troopergate.

-Hiram Monserrate, a Democrat from New York City, was drummed out of the state Senate after attacking his girlfriend and dragging her through an apartment building lobby. (Twelve Democrats voted against expelling him.)

-Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith was dethroned after failing to form a functioning Democratic majority. (Two years after winning a majority, Democrats still don’t have a fully functioning caucus.)

-The House ethics committee has admonished Rep. Charlie Rangel — the leader of New York’s Democratic delegation in Washington — for accepting corporate-sponsored travel as gifts.

-Governor David Paterson’s career is in shambles after he and his state police security detail allegedly meddled in a domestic violence case involving one of his senior aides.

The debacle of the last four years is particularly galling when contrasted with the sky-high expectations.

Even many of my Republican friends were optimistic that the Spitzer-era would bring needed reforms and budget discipline in Albany.

Instead, we face the terrifying prospect of navigating the next ten months without clear leadership, as the state flounders under an $8.2 billion budget deficit.

As the current Paterson scandal unfolds, Democrats have one reason for optimism.

Andrew Cuomo waits in the wings and so far he appears untainted and undamaged by all the fall-out.

New Yorkers can only hope and pray that Cuomo’s behavior — public and private — will offer a fresh start.

While we wait for elections in November, more pressure will fall on Sheldon Silver, the sphinx-like Democratic Assembly leader — arguably the most powerful man in state politics — to help keep the ship of state afloat.

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine Silver filling this role.

He has built a very successful career watching other politicians and their agendas disintegrate.

That patience and inscrutability served him — and Democratic special interests — well for decades.

But the budget crisis has changed the rules. And the humbling of Silver’s party has also shifted the political landscape.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll see if Silver and his fellow Democrats can begin to adapt.

Tags: election10