Yeah, northern and western New Yorkers did soooooo well under 12 years of Pataki/Bruno, didn't they?

If Democrats can't find decent challengers this cycle in districts that are hurting bad (and it's a bit late to start now), perhaps the party should tool up for the 2010 election now. After all, at best the Democratic majority (if there is one) will be slim, and many issues progressives care about won't move because there are enough conservative Democrats to block them. If we can get, say 35 or 36 Democrats in the state Senate, then we can lose a few Democrats on any given issue and still get the job done.

The problem is going to be, what do we do during the 2009/10 session? Do Democrats work to help those regions, where Republican incumbents will take credit in the 2010 election? Or do Democrats let things get worse in the hope of winning the next round? The situation is even more complicated, because 2010 is a statewide election year -- the Governor is up for reelection. How will he fare (or another Democrat if for some reason Paterson chooses not to run) if large areas of New York are getting worse? Can he campaign up there by blaming the Republicans?

The partisan in me says screw upstate until they elect more Democrats. The progressive reformer in me says help them out. Right now, I'm honestly not sure which is the stronger side.