Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Could Spitzer's War backfire???
The Journal News.Com Phil Reisman Commentary
I found this commentary and would like to share it with you all....here is part of it..........andy
"Spitzer is right about the DiNapoli appointment. Most taxpaying citizens know he's right that Albany is a disgrace and that Silver and Joe Bruno, who controls the Republican majority in the state Senate, are contributors to the problem.
But he's also dangerously close to looking like a spiteful bully, and it could backfire on him.
Latimer, 53, is well-liked in his district. His 20 years in politics includes two years and change in the Assembly as well as stints as a Rye city councilman and as a county legislator. He has never lost an election.
With a couple of phone calls, Spitzer could crush Latimer's career. All he has to do is anoint another candidate in 2008, and give him or her twice the money that Latimer is able to raise for a primary challenge. There is no shortage of highly motivated, well-qualified Democrats to choose from in the 91st District, among them the mayor of Rye, Steve Otis.
But here's a question for Spitzer to contemplate: Does he really believe Latimer is an enemy of reform? So far, the record might suggest otherwise. Latimer has voted in committee for the governor's ethics reform package. He has co-sponsored a bill to create an independent redistricting committee. Further, he supports the governor's education proposals and environmental initiatives and backs his plan to give long overdue pay raises to judges. (Latimer also opposed a proposal to give raises to the Legislature.)
Reached in Albany yesterday, Latimer contended that, in fact, he is pretty much in step with Spitzer.
"And in the one we've disagreed, all I did was make a case for why I voted the way I did," he said. "I tried to be specific. There was nothing in anything I said that was critical of the governor. Nowhere along the line have I been an impediment to what's laid out as his reform package for the future."
After 12 years of George Pataki, Albany sorely needs a shake-up from a governor who won't let up. In this way, Spitzer compared himself to the Energizer Bunny.
But instead of a drum, he's armed with a howitzer with which he's taking aim across the state. And in Mamaroneck, his target du jour was George Latimer, a guy with no seniority, no committee chairmanships and little pork to distribute.
"If he picks a fight with me, I can't compete with him on any possible level of competition," Latimer said. "All I can do is do what I think is right."
I found this commentary and would like to share it with you all....here is part of it..........andy
"Spitzer is right about the DiNapoli appointment. Most taxpaying citizens know he's right that Albany is a disgrace and that Silver and Joe Bruno, who controls the Republican majority in the state Senate, are contributors to the problem.
But he's also dangerously close to looking like a spiteful bully, and it could backfire on him.
Latimer, 53, is well-liked in his district. His 20 years in politics includes two years and change in the Assembly as well as stints as a Rye city councilman and as a county legislator. He has never lost an election.
With a couple of phone calls, Spitzer could crush Latimer's career. All he has to do is anoint another candidate in 2008, and give him or her twice the money that Latimer is able to raise for a primary challenge. There is no shortage of highly motivated, well-qualified Democrats to choose from in the 91st District, among them the mayor of Rye, Steve Otis.
But here's a question for Spitzer to contemplate: Does he really believe Latimer is an enemy of reform? So far, the record might suggest otherwise. Latimer has voted in committee for the governor's ethics reform package. He has co-sponsored a bill to create an independent redistricting committee. Further, he supports the governor's education proposals and environmental initiatives and backs his plan to give long overdue pay raises to judges. (Latimer also opposed a proposal to give raises to the Legislature.)
Reached in Albany yesterday, Latimer contended that, in fact, he is pretty much in step with Spitzer.
"And in the one we've disagreed, all I did was make a case for why I voted the way I did," he said. "I tried to be specific. There was nothing in anything I said that was critical of the governor. Nowhere along the line have I been an impediment to what's laid out as his reform package for the future."
After 12 years of George Pataki, Albany sorely needs a shake-up from a governor who won't let up. In this way, Spitzer compared himself to the Energizer Bunny.
But instead of a drum, he's armed with a howitzer with which he's taking aim across the state. And in Mamaroneck, his target du jour was George Latimer, a guy with no seniority, no committee chairmanships and little pork to distribute.
"If he picks a fight with me, I can't compete with him on any possible level of competition," Latimer said. "All I can do is do what I think is right."
