Your intrepid bloggers made the trip out to Suffolk yesterday to get a feel of one of our top campaigns yesterday, the contest between Democrat Brian Foley and withered eternal incumbent Caesar Trunzo.

On arrival, more movement than district voters have seen from Trunzo in at least a decade.

The Brookhaven Democratic Committee storefront office.

If you can measure excitement for a campaign by the number of volunteers who show up on one of the last nice Saturdays of the year to go door to door, then this one is through the roof. Very impressive.

Suburban streetscape.

Foley speaking to volunteers.

Going door to door.

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Okay, this is really good stuff: Caesar Trunzo has the first spot of the general election up in his district, running, apprently, mainly or exclusively on cable.

Here's the transcript:

Woman 1: Many people on Long Island are having a very tough time.
Woman 2: I definitely believe our property taxes are through the roof.
Man 1: I think a cap on property taxes would definitely be a good thing for us.
Woman 3: Senator Trunzo is working to cap property taxes, and that's important for me and my family.

(Screen text: Caesar Trunzo is leading the fight to cap property taxes)

Woman 1: Trunzo very much cares about working people.
Man 2: I don't know of anyone else that has worked harder than Trunzo in the Senate to get things done.
Man 3: Experience absolutely matters, I can tell you that. Absolutely.

Voiceover over campaign logo and beach sunset: (male voice) I can't imagine anyone could do a better job. (female voice) You don't fix what's not broken.

That's some really discordant messaging. To go from 'many people are hurting' to 'you don't fix what's not broken' - all the rich ironies of that aside - is a startling disconnect. If many people are hurting - and that's without question true - then the logical answer to that is change. Not to mention that the idea of Caesar Trunzo fighting for anything other than a better time slot for Florida shuffleboard is kinda ludicrous.

One of the stories not getting any coverage in this election season is the one about New York republican infighting, dissatisfaction, and institutional aimlessness. That's part of the systemic media bias against Progressives and Democrats, who are, to pull just one example out of a very full hat, favored with one story after another over how Obama's consistent lead in the polls over months is actually a worrying sign.

What makes this so remarkable is the snarling food fight over a shrinking slice of the pie taking place in the republican party. In Staten Island - part of the raft of once-safe seats up for grabs this time around - the most influential local party grandee has vowed to defeat his own party's candidate for Congress. Upstate, there's a simmering revolt brewing fueled by anger over "downstate liberal" Dean Skelos' apparent strategic decision to throw whatever resources he has into defeating Craig Johnson, along with other races in his immediate backyard. In Joe Bruno's former district, SD-43, some ominous signs - money disparities, candidate quality - point to a possible Democratic pickup that could be devastating for the morale of Bruno's party, while Joe Bruno's once-vaunted machine seems to have dissolved with his departure.

The fighting is probably worst in the Third Senatorial District, where republicans are in open revolt against Caesar Trunzo. The feud became public when dozens of Islip republicans turned out to demand Trunzo's resignation. Today, several younger republican candidates got knocked off the ballot for other races in that district due to ballot challenges; Islip republican dissidents are up in arms and apparently threatening to sit out the November elections in consequence.

There's no reason to be sympathetic to republicans. Their beliefs and policies have proven ruinous for our state and our country. But you can't help but have some empathy for some younger folks trying to wrench their party from the grasp of a septuagenarian octogenarian who spends most of his time in one of his two Florida homes.

Breaking via Albany Project: Jimmy Dahroug just filed a stipulation in a courthouse in Suffolk to have his name removed from the September primary ballot in the Third Senatorial District.

I've been quite open about my disenchantment with Jimmy's campaign, but I'd also like to note that he's a smart guy with a compelling story who could very well play a role going forward. It's in everyone's interest to groom young talents, and that's exactly what Jimmy is; so I'm looking forward to seeing what his next steps are.

I love Facebook, I really truly do. People send you requests asking to be your friend, which tickles the hell out of me every time; you keep abreast of the large and small developments in the lives of said friends; you get emails about and invitations to stuff that's nearly always somehow relevant. It's dangerously addictive in the networked life.

I logged on yesterday morning, and noticed that someone in my network had become a supporter of Kristen McElroy, running for State Senate in SD-6 against Kemp Hannon.

Compare the two web pages, and you can see this year's fight in a nutshell. On the one hand, you have a young mother - McElroy has three kids under four - on the other, another decades-long incumbent whose bio doesn't even give a date of birth. To quote her Facebook page,

As a mother of three young children Kristen knows how hard it has become to raise a family in Long Island, NY. With the rising property taxes, soaring fuel prices and rapid increase of healthcare and prescription drugs costs; Kristen wants to hold the line on taxes, funnel education money back into the classroom rather than high administrative costs and bring the people’s voice back to Albany rather than lobbyists and special interest groups.

I suspect you'll be hearing a lot more about Kristen McElroy.