ORIGINAL: doughboysigep
so much for all the petitions and letters. our paper (Dave henderson) is reporting that Grannis is pretty much a lock to get in (no matter how bad of a choice he is). it appears that he will be a bargining pawn for the Republicans to get their budget items approved. Politics at its best!
Well, although Grannis has been pushed through the EnCon committee, this is by no means a "lock" or a "done deal". The Albany Times Union has been reporting Grannis has been confirmed. That is NOT true.
The next stop on the Grannis tour is the Finance Committee, then the full Senate.
The vote which happened in EnCon has been termed by the GOP Senate Majority as a "good faith" vote, showing the governor they are "willing to work with him." Translation, budget wiggle is looked for. Yes, this was a bargaining chip maneuver.
However, I received an email yesterday from Senator Maziarz and he is VERY TICKED OFF that the Times Union has "jumped the gun" (in Maziarz's words). He further stated this is by no means a "done deal".
Bottom line is that this ain;t over. The letters and petition have indeed accomplished much, which is get the serious attention of Albany. We have gotten Grannis on record as to what he supposedly stands for. We have Spitzer making promises to placate sportsmen and the fears of having this anti in charge. We have the entirity of Albany doing the political equivalent of the Texas-Two Step suddenly on outdoors issues.
And the fight ain't over yet.
Finance committee chairman Sen.Owen Johnson has indicated the Grannis hearings won't begin until AFTER the budget is settled. Sen Bruno has asked me to write to Sen Johnson, which I have done, and recommend we ALL DO! If he gets past the Finance Committee, it moves to the full Senate, and, if the budget is in place, the bargaining chip is gone and all bets are off.
The worst thing we can do now is to resign ourselves to defeat and demonstrate a loss of interest. That would definitely send the WRONG message. I appreciate everyone's frustration on this, but let's not allow ourselves to weaken our own commitment by giving up. We must remain vocal, indeed get more vocal, as this is how we send the strongest message to Albany possible. We must remain united and support the Senators that are in our corner, as well. If our friends see us as abandoning ship, they will bail on us, too. So, please, let us all make certain THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN!