ALBANY
NEW York’s Senate Democrats are wondering how a bunch of grumpy old men got the better of them.
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They’re blaming their misfortune on the machinations of a couple of thuggish guns-for-hire and the shameless tactics of the GOP. “They can’t win elections anymore, so they have to resort to a coup,” says political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who’s advising deposed Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.
Maybe so, but the heart of the Democratic crisis wasn’t a lack of counterintelligence — it was a shortfall in just plain intelligence.
In their five months in power, Senate Democrats never figured out the difference between winning elections and governing. Single-mindedly focused on seizing the Senate, they never put much thought into what they wanted to do once they started running things.
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They took it as an article of faith that New York was trending blue and that Republicans were headed for extinction. They didn’t think they had to offer a cohesive alternative agenda; instead — individually and chaotically — they pursued a hodgepodge of pet causes.
On taxes, spending, criminal justice and government reform, Senate Democrats were 32 squawking voices, hopelessly off-key. They came off as amateurs — especially compared to the rigid, top-down order of the Assembly. The backdrop of the reeling economy only reinforced an impression that they weren’t cut out for prime time.
For years, the Senate Republicans survived by buying off organized labor while evincing a vaguely conservative fiscal message. It wasn’t ultimately a winning strategy, but they prolonged their life by sticking together. Their platform was a jumble of cynicism and populism, devoid of fresh thinking. But in Albany, as Democrats now realize, in a vacuum of ideas, power gravitates toward discipline and order.
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Smith took charge as a moderate, business-friendly Democrat — but was cowed by the New York City liberal base of his conference. As a result, the Senate veered sharply leftward on issues like taxes, rent control and drug laws.
The split in the conference allowed Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to dictate the terms of budget negotiations — which only added to the perception that Smith couldn’t lead.
Smith’s reversals made it impossible for him to coax cooperation out of Republicans, who were already bristling over the Democrats’ winner-take-all allocation of office resources and committee assignments. Miserable in the minority, the GOP’s determination to take back the chamber hardened.
In the end, as Democrats privately acknowledge, Smith failed to assume control. His original sin was his secret pact with the “Gang of Four,” led by Sens. Carl Kruger and Pedro Espada, who carved their careers out of party disloyalty and self-dealing.
Recall that Smith in 2006 was elected leader of his conference in large measure by securing the backing of one of its most liberal members, Sen. Tom Duane — who was assured by Smith that he’d advance a bill to legalize gay marriage.
After Democrats won in November, Smith, determined to clinch a deal with Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. at all costs, turned his back on gay marriage. He later recanted, but he left his members with the impression that he was willing to do or say anything to stay in charge.
By rewarding disloyalty — handing plum committee assignments to Espada, Kruger and Diaz — Smith lost the respect of his other members, who figured they had more to gain by throwing tantrums than playing as a team.
By the late spring, Smith tried to show a backbone by slapping Espada on the wrist for his utter disregard for campaign-finance reporting laws.
Smith would’ve been wiser to either keep Espada happy or neutralize him by luring a Republican across the aisle. The majority leader’s sudden switch to disciplinarian wasn’t taken seriously by his colleagues and only pushed Espada closer to the enemy.
More broadly, Smith’s attempt to freeze out the GOP was a misreading of the political winds. New York’s voting population is overwhelmingly Democrat, but a governing coalition must reflect the state as a whole — not just Manhattan.
The same problem has afflicted Gov. Paterson, who understood the need to strike a more moderate balance but nonetheless caved to the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Nationally, Democrats confront a similar public resistance, as they push a fiscal and health-care agenda out-of-step with the national sensibility.
Barring another reversal, it appears that Republicans under a bipartisan coalition have been handed a second chance. It’s an opportunity to redefine the Republican Party in New York. Maybe that means passing a gay-marriage bill — which would embarrass Democrats — or joining with Paterson in passing a serious cap on state spending.
If they’re going to stick around for a while, the Republicans will need to think beyond the usual pandering and buyoffs that led to a gradual electoral defeat. They may have outsmarted the Democrats, but are they smart enough to lead?
jacob.gershman@gmail.com