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Shelly Silver, On the Couch First Spitzer Transition Team Meeting Set Socialist Won’t Socialize 10 Questions with Malachy McCourt GOP Challenger Says Bing Doesn’t Do Enough Tough Times for Local GOP Crowley on Malcolm Smith and Gay Marriage Paterson on Malcolm Smith and Democratic Strategy Krueger Faces a Challenge Political Transitions for Transit Workers The Money Trail: Loose Laws for Leftovers A Cabinet Stocked with Imports Instead of Political Curry For Alternate-Party Candidates, Winning Is Not Everything Slow Progress for Disabled Voting City’s Adult Literacy Programs Grapple with Funding Cuts Though the Competition is Over, the Campaign Continues
The October Poll: Which Council Member Would Have the Best Survival Skills on a Desert Island? Photos from the City Hall lauch/Rising Stars party The Hows of Political Activism at the Y Pastrami and Pickles with Rep. Anthony Weiner Editorial: When the Council Fears Debate The View from Albany: Rivalries and Détentes as Albany’s Old Guard Meets New Guard by Alan Chartock Read the Fine Print on Library Funding by City Council Member Vincent Gentile Observation: At the Empire State Pride Agenda Dinner, Highlights and Pitfalls by Allen Roskoff
This column is about relationships. I call ’em like I see ’em.
Eliot Spitzer and Sheldon Silver. When Eliot Spitzer becomes governor, he is going to have to clean up Albany the way he cleaned up Wall Street and the music industry, fearlessly and with all deliberate speed. Sheldon Silver is a smart man, and based on my years of knowing him, a good man. If Silver makes the mistake of getting in reformer Spitzer’s way, particularly during Spitzer’s honeymoon period coming off a huge electoral win and mandate, he is going to end up falling from power. If I were Silver, I would relinquish some power, leave a legacy of Democratic change and graciously help Spitzer clean up a state government that needs change. I would NOT challenge him and end up being despised as a holdover from the old way. To be fair to Silver, he has passed a number of “one house” reform bills on things like redistricting. My bet is that Silver, who is an ethical and religious man, will be there to help Spitzer.
If there is any suspicion that Paterson and his mentee, Malcolm Smith, are in cahoots against the Spitzer program, it will not be a good thing.
Eliot Spitzer and Joe Bruno. Assuming that Majority Leader Bruno and his increasingly slim Republican majority hold on, the always adroit and sensible Bruno will try to make peace with Spitzer. He will recognize that Spitzer needs a sensible partner, that Spitzer is not a flaming liberal and has his share of conservative instincts, and that Spitzer has the backing of the very labor unions that have always kept his conference in power. In recent years, Bruno and Speaker Silver have made common institutional cause against the outgoing and failed Governor Pataki. Now with Pataki out of here, Bruno will realize that he needs to be perceived as a positive force in Albany and not the opposite. He will also have to understand that his days as a leader are numbered. This is a Democratic state and the handwriting is on the wall. Joe Bruno has always seemed to me to be a fair and principled man who is aware of his own legacy. My bet is that he will be far more conciliatory with Spitzer than some partisans might believe.
Eliot Spitzer and Malcolm Smith and David Paterson. Malcolm Smith will become the new Senate Democratic leader once his very good friend and political ally, David Paterson, leaves to become lieutenant governor. Some troublemakers are already suggesting that Paterson (a very good man) and Spitzer (an all-time hero of mine) will begin having turf battles. I certainly hope not. These two wonderful men are both bright. Having any disharmony in the ranks will hurt Spitzer and kill Paterson. To make this new administration work, Paterson will have to give it his all. If there is any suspicion that he and his mentee, Malcolm Smith, are in cahoots against the Spitzer program, it will not be a good thing. Knowing both men, I am sure that they will work assiduously to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo the Younger is a fiercely ambitious man. Much has been written about his personality and his impatience and of the fact that it is inevitable that he will undercut Spitzer. It may be true that he is ambitious and that he is a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. He knows that is his reputation. So does the New York Times. They will be watching him with an eagle eye. His fans and partisans tell us again and again that he has changed. Being a Freudian, I just don’t think character changes all that much. Nevertheless, when people know what’s good for them, they sometimes reach a stage of maturation that makes an alarm bell sound when they are about to do something counter-productive. Unlike Spitzer, who owed no one anything when he was attorney general, the Cuomos owe a great deal to the unions and others who have endorsed Andrew. If Andrew ends up having to protect the status quo and interferes with Spitzer’s reform plans, there will be hell to pay.
Andrew Cuomo and David Paterson. Both will want to be governor after Spitzer. Keep an eye on that one.
Alan Chartock is the president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and the executive publisher and project director of The Legislative Gazette