In the animal kingdom, runts often get pushed out of the litter and left to fend for themselves, usually with tragic outcomes. The same is becoming true for the Democratic legislative ticket in Troy.
Saturday, embattled county Democratic Boss Tom Wade convened a secret meeting at county Democratic headquarters in downtown Troy. Wade brought out of town Democratic consultant Michael Montescalchi for the secret Saturday meeting with only three of the six endorsed Democratic candidates.
Wade told the three candidates assembled at the meeting that Democrats had a tough road ahead against a popular and well-organized ticket put together by Republicans for County Legislature. The three Democratic candidates in attendance at the meeting were told they would get what little resources Democrats will have on hand for the fall contests.
Who are the three "runt" candidates, you ask? We know, but we aren't telling. But if you were one of three candidates not invited to the meeting, then you know you aren't a priority for Boss Wade. More to the point, you are learning what many past Democrat candidates are learning: An endorsement from Tom Wade is more like the political kiss of death.
Meanwhile, on the GOP side, last week saw Republican legislative candidates packing them in at two fundraisers in just one week. The Republican legislative team is expected to have a record amount of campaign resources on hand and what political observers are saying is the strongest slate of candidates assembled by Republicans in years. Considering the GOP has a veto-proof majority, that's saying something.
District 2 Dems Come Unglued
Much like Boss Tom Wade, District 2 legislative Democrats are getting worried. First, a ploy by Wade to bring up legislative pay raises backfired, because Democrat Keith Hammond is the only candidate in the race to have voted for the raise. Having your own party boss do opposition research is bad enough, considering Democrats are already reeling from the departure of Minority Leader Ginny O'Brien from the ticket. However, Hammond has not been a favorite of Wade's, going back to when the party boss refused to endorse Hammond for State Assembly. Some Democrats were speculating that Wade was deliberately trying to sabotage Hammond by raising an issue that will help bury the Poestenkill Democrat at the polls.
But there is also dissension among Democrats in the district over a possible primary for the party nod in the district, and the belief that some Democrat incumbents in the district are actually encouraging the primary to target fellow Democratic incumbents. More details to come.
|