Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Springtime for Spitzer. For Real?
THE EMPIRE ZONE
POLITICS IS THE NAME OF THE GAME HERE.......DEMOCRATS ARE SUPPOSED TO GET DEMOCRATS ELECTED...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD LOSS..........YES WORK TOGETHER AND GET THINGS DONE FOR THE GOOD OF NEW YORK...THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE ALL ELECTED TO DO..BUT NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT...COME ELECTION TIME...YOU HAVE TO GET REELECTED..............ANDY
Relations between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and members of the Legislature have been notably more sour during the last few weeks, as the governor butted heads with lawmakers over campaign reform, school districts, and other issues.
But last weekend, in his performance at the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner in Albany, Gov. Eliot Spitzer aired a video skit of himself hugging members of the Legislature with whom he has had particularly public disputes — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse, among others. Missing from the video, as we noted earlier today, was Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader. Mr. Spitzer hopes to make him the Senate minority leader in the not too distant future.
But Mr. Spitzer struck a somewhat conciliatory note today following an appearance at the annual convention of the Newspaper Association of America.
“I deal with Joe, speak to him all the time and always have a wonderful, cordial relationship with him,” said Mr. Spitzer, when asked if he could effect change in Albany with Mr. Bruno still in power.
“We will respect that duality of our relationship,” the governor said. “We have a responsibility, which I’ve talked about since the very first moment I’ve been governor, to govern: to run the state, to reach agreements, to move the policy debate forward, get a budget, health care improvements, all the other things we’re trying to do. On the other hand, there’s a political arena where he’s trying to elect his members and I as the leader of the Democratic party of the state, am trying to elect Democratic senators. So, we respect that duality, we live by it and somehow work it through and get along all the same.”
A reporter pressed him, according to our correspondent on the scene. Mr. Spitzer said:
We are accomplishing a great deal already in the context of health care and property taxes and education. We are getting the changes we need, both in the budget and the other bills we’ve passed, the administrative determinations we’ve made. So, sure we can do it. It doesn’t mean that I will work less assiduously to elect those whom I agree with ideologically, but it also means that we will forge common ground and find those areas where we can agree to move the state forward. That’s our job and we’ll do it.
It’s a start.
POLITICS IS THE NAME OF THE GAME HERE.......DEMOCRATS ARE SUPPOSED TO GET DEMOCRATS ELECTED...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD LOSS..........YES WORK TOGETHER AND GET THINGS DONE FOR THE GOOD OF NEW YORK...THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE ALL ELECTED TO DO..BUT NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT...COME ELECTION TIME...YOU HAVE TO GET REELECTED..............ANDY
Relations between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and members of the Legislature have been notably more sour during the last few weeks, as the governor butted heads with lawmakers over campaign reform, school districts, and other issues.
But last weekend, in his performance at the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner in Albany, Gov. Eliot Spitzer aired a video skit of himself hugging members of the Legislature with whom he has had particularly public disputes — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse, among others. Missing from the video, as we noted earlier today, was Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader. Mr. Spitzer hopes to make him the Senate minority leader in the not too distant future.
But Mr. Spitzer struck a somewhat conciliatory note today following an appearance at the annual convention of the Newspaper Association of America.
“I deal with Joe, speak to him all the time and always have a wonderful, cordial relationship with him,” said Mr. Spitzer, when asked if he could effect change in Albany with Mr. Bruno still in power.
“We will respect that duality of our relationship,” the governor said. “We have a responsibility, which I’ve talked about since the very first moment I’ve been governor, to govern: to run the state, to reach agreements, to move the policy debate forward, get a budget, health care improvements, all the other things we’re trying to do. On the other hand, there’s a political arena where he’s trying to elect his members and I as the leader of the Democratic party of the state, am trying to elect Democratic senators. So, we respect that duality, we live by it and somehow work it through and get along all the same.”
A reporter pressed him, according to our correspondent on the scene. Mr. Spitzer said:
We are accomplishing a great deal already in the context of health care and property taxes and education. We are getting the changes we need, both in the budget and the other bills we’ve passed, the administrative determinations we’ve made. So, sure we can do it. It doesn’t mean that I will work less assiduously to elect those whom I agree with ideologically, but it also means that we will forge common ground and find those areas where we can agree to move the state forward. That’s our job and we’ll do it.
It’s a start.
