Will the 2008 Blue Wave sweep out the ossified obstructionist Republicans in Albany? Will a Democratic take over of the State Senate actually help to clear out Albany's political constipation or will the likes of Shelly Silver STILL keep things dysfunctional? We will soon find out. But what is clear is that there are three particularly good candidates Democrats can support for State Senate who would definitely improve things. And the NY Times has endorsed all three.

NY Times State Senate endorsements:

Third State Senate District on Long Island: Voters have a good choice in the Democratic challenger, Brian Foley, the town supervisor of Brookhaven. Mr. Foley has managed to restore the town's good name after decades of rotten Republican rule. The incumbent, Caesar Trunzo, was elected in the Nixon era. His core argument for re-election has boiled down to his pride in being a major conduit for pork. Long ago, he became a living monument to the inertia in Albany. We endorse Brian Foley.

According to The Albany Project, Kathy Konst will not run for Congress, but will instead run for State Senate.

The only question now is, how long will it take for her to change her website yet again?

UPDATE: The question is open; her site is back to its old tricks.

This past Saturday, I accompanied Jimmy Dahroug as he stumped for signatures. It was an eye-opening experience that all those (especially at the state party & senate campaign committee) who may be on the fence about Jimmy should have.

We were ringing doorbells for about three and a half hours. In all that time, there was one, and only one, registered Democrat who wouldn't sign Jimmy's petition. She did give her blessing to her 18-year-old son, however, when he wanted to sign it, so it was clear that she never signs anything. Several others were reluctant to sign at first, until they heard Jimmy talk about his campaign and his issues, and read the literature he brought.

An editorial (available here) in a recent edition of the Times Beacon Record, a group of Long Island newspapers, lays it out beautifully. Brian Foley isn't a bad guy, but he isn't the kind of tenacious fighter that the district -- and all New Yorkers -- need in the state Senate.

In addition, it should be noted once again that Foley's last-minute entry into the race caused a three-way primary, whereas if he had either gotten in last year or stayed out completely, we'd have a nominee right now. It seems that Doug Forand and the other powermongers in Albany haven't been paying attention to the situation on the ground in Islip/Brookhaven.