"Transparant attempt by liberals to gain two more Democratic Senators."
Whose votes would be cancelled by the two Republican Senators from Upstate, thus putting the Dems out by even more.
"Whose votes would be cancelled by the two Republican Senators from Upstate"
That's an interesting theory, but Upstate New York is not reliably Republican. Gore won upstate by 52% to 44% in 2000, and Kerry ran even there in 2004. Upstate's Congressmen include Maurice Hinchley, Louise Slaughter, and Nita Lowey.