HOW best to describe the situation in Albany now — clowns armed with machine guns?
It’s hard to see a power-sharing arrangement between Republicans and Democrats taking hold: Somebody has to win.
Things have gotten so bad that the circus metaphor is no longer applicable — the image it conjures is too playful and light.
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The comparisons you hear now are to the Palestinians and Israelis, the Sunnis and Shiites. And when you consider that lawmaker-on-lawmaker violence is starting to seem like a real possibility, the analogy isn’t that hyperbolic.
As the Empire State conflict has escalated and the cycle of gaveling has spun out of control, Mayor Bloomberg has tried to stay above the fray. “Why step on a land mine?” he’s probably reasoning.
Asked about the stalemate, he told reporters: “I think both [sides] said to me that they understood the need to do business and that they were both committed to finding a way to do it. I did not ask how and it’s not my business to get involved with them, nor do I want to.”
But Bloomberg must realize that time is running out — that, left to their own devices, the lawmakers would rather see the Capitol burn than shake hands.
The stakes are too high for such high-altitude neutrality. He could wind up seeing mayoral control smoldering on top of a rubble of collateral damage, with gay marriage and taxing-authorization legislation buried underneath.
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The mayor is in a position to end the war. How? By taking sides, encouraging public opinion to swing in one direction and convincing one party to surrender for the greater good. The decision confronting the mayor then isn’t simply to intervene but to pick a favorite.
Judging the merits of each side is tricky. It’s hard to make a case for the Republicans, who fired the first shot when they picked off two Democrats of dubious reputation, putting one of the turncoats — Pedro Espada Jr., who seems to confuse lawmaking with entrepreneurship — next in line for the governorship.
Even so, the Democrats may have the weaker argument. Technically (and no judge has ruled otherwise), the Republicans were the last ones to cast 32 votes. More important, as far as the public is concerned, the Democrats lost when they proved themselves incapable of running the chamber during their five months in charge.
Even now, Senate Democrats are miles away from a consensus on a bill to renew mayoral control of public schools. Even Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose members were ferocious in their criticism of the city’s school system, was able to box it up and send it out.
The decision for Bloomberg is made easier by the reality on the ground. Republicans are desperate. They know this is their best hope for sustaining their majority until they reach the finish line next year when district seats are reapportioned. “This is their last shot. They’re not backing down,” says an Albany insider.
For Democrats, raising a white flag wouldn’t be a catastrophe, just a temporary setback. They have the electoral momentum and a good shot at winning back a seat in next year’s election.
Plus, the Republicans’ alliance with Espada provides Democrats with just the stick they need to beat the GOP over the next year. “Let Espada be an albatross. You want him. You got him. He’s the standard-bearer of the Republican-led coalition. Good luck,” says a Democratic lawmaker.
But Democrats are too stubborn to lose the battle in order to win the war. It requires a shift in public opinion, the emergence of a strong outside force like Bloomberg — and perhaps a subtle tip of the hand from Silver — to persuade them to lay down their arms.
Bloomberg may think he’s powerless to intervene. But what’s the alternative?
jacob.gershman@gmail.com