albanyweblog.com
Updated
November 22, 2007
Many thanks to Mr. Strock for the plug! This is the first time Senator Breslin's possible candidacy has been mentioned in the non-internet media. And this is the first time Albanyweblog has been mentioned in the Gazette.
Help Wanted: Lifetime Gig in Washington
Carl Strock, from the Sunday Gazette, November 11, 2007
No, no, no. I'm not going to throw my hat in the ring to succeed Mike McNulty in Congress. Maybe if he had given us some foreshadowing of his decision to retire at the tender age of 60 - or 61, which he'll be when his term ends - but he took me and everyone else entirely by surprise by announcing his retirement so early.
We all figured he would have to be carried out of Washington, as his predecessor, Sam Stratton, was very nearly carried out.
Politicians can talk all they want about public service, but let's face it, these are great jobs, these congressional seats and state Legislature seats, and when you get one you don't give it up unless you have to.
For a congressman to call it a career after a mere 20 yeaxs, when he is still able to tend to his basic needs, is a rare event, and now there's going to be a scramble, thats for sure.
Technically, the chairmen of the Democratic committees in the seven counties that make up McNulty's congressional district could come together and endorse a candidate who would be the sole, unity candidate, but no one I have talked to expects that to happen.
For one thing, Democrats in Albany County outnumber Democrats in the other six counties combined, so with a weighted voting system they could simply pick the candidate on their own. And for another thing, there are too many ambitious politicians in Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schoharie counties, not to mention in Albany county itself, for there ever to be agreement.
So the matter will be settled by a primary, you can bet on that.
First out of the gate - my prediction - will be state Sen. Neil Breslin from Albany County, who confirmed for me what was reported by www.albanyweblog.com , that he will make a formal announcement in two or three weeks and that he is "very much interested” in the job, which is as close as anyone can get in advance of a formal announcement to saying, yes, I'm running.
After that it's a guessing game. Assemblvman Ron Canestrari, also of Albany County, said, "It's something I continue to mull over ... there's no immediate pressing need to make a decision this week," which I personally take to mean the odds are not great that he'll go for it, besides which he is not unhappy being the No. 2 man in the Assembly, as majority leader.
Mayor Brian Stratton of Schenectady did not return my telephone call seeking comment but told reporters earlier that he intends to serve out his term as mayor. Still, as the son of the man who represented this area in Congress for 30 years before McNulty took over, he cannot be indifferent to the opening - might even consider that he has a certain claim on the job.
My first, cynical thought when McNulty made his announcement was that he was doing it one week before this year's Election Day in order to block Stratton from immediately declaring his own candidacy for the job, since Stratton was running for re-election as mayor and could hardly announce that he wanted some other office just before presenting himself to the voters. There must have been collusion among Albany Democrats to keep the Schenectady fellow at bay, I figured.
But no, McNulty assured me, that was the farthest thing from his mind, and it's obvious by now there was no arrangement with the Albany crowd, since there is no agreed-upon successor.
McNulty told me he announced a year in advance to give his staff members plenty of time to find new jobs, and doing it a week before this Election Day was just happenstance.
We take for granted the Democratic candidate will ultimately win the congressional seat simply because Democrats outnumber Republicans 171,000 to 120,000 in the 21st District, but let's not count out Jim Tedisco, the Republican assemblyman from Schenectady who has made a name for himself battling Gov. Spitzer on drivers' licenses for illegal fimnigrants, among other surefire issues.
"I really haven't had a chance to sit down and think it over," he told me, implausibly. He did note the 50,000-voter discrepancy between Democrats and Republicans in the district but also offered that Rudy Giuliani, if he happens to be the Republican presidential candidate, "could bring out a tremendous base," and also that the issue of drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants, out of which he has already gotten a lot of mileage, "could resonate for seven months," making him a viable contender.
So I have to believe he's thinking about it even as he says he has not had time to do so. (How much time does it take to think, Hey, I could be congressman!)
Apparently Sue Savage, Democratic chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature is also thinking about it, though I would have to handicap her as an extreme longshot.
But whoever jumps in or doesn't jump in, let us always keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, that a seat in Congress is basically a job opportunity. That it comes along only once in a generation is what give it its special excitement, for those in the game.
Imagine aspiring to a job that opens up only once in 20 or 30 years and that many others also aspire to. That's the kind of nailbiting pressure our politicians live with.
Meanwhile, a salute to Mike McNulty, who was always an honest man to deal with, in a profession that too often rewards dishonesty.
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