I am so glad someone else is finally reporting this. The democrats keep pointing their finger of blame at the republicans, but in truth, it is the democrats that are fighting and have no idea who is in control and are fighting amongst themselves for power and control.
WHY is the state Senate still stuck in its standoff? It comes down to this: Dem ocrats are too splintered to settle on any truce. Republicans are too desperate for survival to concede any ground. And lawmakers caught in the middle are too afraid to act independently.
Naturally, most attention has centered on the Republican v. Democrat conflict — but the civil war flaring inside the Democratic conference is just as intense.
At the moment, nobody is running the Democratic camp, which is split along geographic and ideological lines.
Then there’s the racial dynamic: A power struggle between the black caucus — led by Malcolm Smith, the former majority leader, and John Sampson of Brooklyn — and white members has thrown negotiations into chaos.
Neither Democratic faction trusts the other. For example, many are outraged that Smith has yet to give up his hold on power — even though he allowed the coup to happen under his watch.
Look at how all this works — or, rather, doesn’t work. Last Thursday, Smith and Republicans thought they’d cut a deal that would make Republican Dean Skelos majority leader, Smith Senate president and Pedro Espada “vice president” and chairman of the finance committee. (At least, that’s what some of the folks present say they thought the agreement was.)
But Jeff Klein and Diane Savino, Smith’s longstanding rivals among Senate Democrats, feared that this arrangement would marginalize their faction — a contingent of moderate outerborough, suburban and upstate members. They accused Smith of self-dealing, and Democrats pulled him from the bargaining table.
Republicans no longer know with whom they are negotiating.
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