In Albany, time for fresh faces, fresh voices
Very little is clear in Albany these days, but one thing has come into sharp focus: New York desperately needs a new cast of characters.
Senator Malcolm Smith’s lackluster performance over the last five months had already raised serious questions about his capacity for leadership.
The fact that the Senate’s top Democrat stumbled blindly into this keystone-cop coup hardly instills fresh confidence.
It’s also clear that Republican leader Dean Skelos acted with a degree if imprudence amounting to fecklessness in staging this farce.
His claim to a sudden zeal for reform rings hollow, given that his GOP dominated the Senate for four decades without embracing any significant reform.
What’s more, his bungling grope for power was enabled by a partnership with two of New York’s least reputable Democrats: one under indictment for assault, the other being probed for campaign donation irregularities.
“When you lay with a dog, sometimes you wake up with fleas,” said Sen. Martin Golden, (R-Brooklyn), in an interview with the NY Daily News.
All in all, it’s hardly a coalition of statesmen. Whatever Mr. Skelos’s qualities, this affair may well have tainted him beyond redemption.
(And don’t get me started on Sens. Monserrate and Espada. Neither are worthy of much serious discussion, let alone leadership posts.)
There are, of course, good men and women in New York’s Senate, on both sides of the aisle.
It’s time for some of them to step forward and engineer the kind of power shift that truly serves the people.
This affair may also be a final, unambiguous signal that Governor David Paterson’s future is damaged beyond repair.
I have defended Mr. Paterson before in this blog. He was dealt a brutally difficult hand and has at times impressed me with his political courage and honesty.
For a Democrat to challenge the public employee unions and members of his own party as the Governor has done is no small feat.
But can he lead? Can he bend Albany? Can he bring a semblance of order to his own fractious and increasingly farcical party?
As events unfolded in the Senate over the last week, it was hard to see any evidence that the Governor has these essential qualities.
