Posted on 01/08/2011 11:19:50 AM PST by neverdem
ALBANY — The chaos-plagued State Senate faced fresh tumult on Wednesday as four Democrats announced they would split from their party’s leadership and start their own, independent caucus.
The move does not change the balance of power in the Senate, which the Republicans captured in November and now hold with a razor-thin, two-seat majority, 32 to 30...
--snip--
The departure of the four senators, announced a few hours before Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo delivered his State of the State address, brought into the open the simmering anger among some Senate Democrats, especially from outside New York City, who have borne the political brunt of the scandals and dysfunction that have racked their conference in the last two years. It also solidifies the Republicans’ hold on the Senate until the next election, potentially depriving Democrats of votes on party-line decisions and making it almost impossible for them to retake the chamber by encouraging one or two Republicans to switch parties during the session...
--snip--
The four senators emphasized that they still supported Mr. Cuomo’s agenda and would continue to vote consistently with the other Democrats in the Senate, though they would not caucus with them formally or attend internal Democratic meetings. Mr. Klein did not respond when asked whether he and the other senators would return to the Democratic conference if Mr. Sampson were to step down as leader.
But it was clear that Mr. Sampson was a driving force behind the senators’ move to create an independent conference. Of Mr. Sampson, Mr. Klein said, “In the minority, I do not believe he’s going to be able to make a compelling argument for why the Democrats should be returned to power.”...
(Excerpt) Read more at cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
We can only hope.
Thanks for the ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.