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Dems saw at Malcolm Smith's chair
A group of Democratic lawmakers told ousted Majority Leader Malcolm Smith on Friday he must relinquish his leadership role for the party to regain control of the Senate.
The senators gave Smith the bad news that his resignation as leader is the only way to get one of the two renegades, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, back into the fold.
"If Monserrate comes back in, Malcolm will be out," one senator said.
But it gets much better.
Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn), who is considered a likely successor to Smith, and other Democrats are expected to meet with Monserrate this weekend to try to flip him back to the Democrats, a Senate aide said.
Sampson is a thoroughly undistinguished legislator whose main claim to fame is the primary he ran against Brooklyn D.A. Charlie Hynes in 2005. His openly stated objective was to stop Hynes from prosecuting Brooklyn party boss Clarence Norman. Norman is currently serving a multi-year prison term; He was accused, among other things, of trying to sell judgeships and taking illegal campaign contributions. There's a fourth charge still outstanding, alleging extortion.
So why even consider Sampson? We're always telling people about our hopes for reform, transparency, accountability, all that great stuff. Simple: after the stellar success of David Paterson - take a look at the devastating report on his dysfunctional management style as leader - and that of Malcolm Smith, whom they're trying to boot, the black Senators have decided among themselves that no matter what, the next leader needs to be black as well. Which is, I suppose, the best way to run the upper house of a legislature.
So. Does anybody still care about Eliot getting a blowjob?
