Fascinating piece on the contested primary in the 54th AD yesterday by The Daily News' Errol Louis, which unfortunately, copyright law forbids from re-posting here whole and entire. But here are the key grafs:

The single most important political contest in New York this year is the reelection race of Manhattan Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, a Democrat who doubles as speaker of the state Assembly - the second most-powerful post in state government after governor.

For the first time in 22 years, Silver is being challenged - by a pair of political newcomers - in a primary for the seat that is the bedrock of his power.

Fewer than 12,000 voters are expected to cast ballots in the 64th District, which covers all or part of the lower East Side, the East Village, Chinatown, Wall Street and Battery Park City.

But their choice will affect New York's 19 million residents.

...and:

But the residents of Chinatown, the lower East Side, Battery Park City and the rest of the district need to take this race seriously and choose wisely. And they would do New York a great service by turning out at the polls in large numbers.

They will be voting - for the 19 million of us who can't - on the record of a powerful pol who has, for too long, been accountable to nobody.

Think about this for a moment: one elected official, with power equal to or greater than that of any statewide elected official, has gone over two decades without a challenge. When Silver was last challenged, Gorbachev was running the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan was President, and a guy named Barack Obama had just moved to Chicago to become a community organizer.

This primary has been nothing but salutary for the people of that district. Suddenly, there's a mobile constituent services office - which leads one to wonder why that didn't seem to be a worthy idea in a year when the Speaker isn't getting challenged at the polls - a rumored if unconfirmed campaign web site, and repeated appearances by the incumbent in a district he's all but neglected in favor of the gleaming marble offices of the Albany Capitol.

There's a good chance that Silver won't be ousted this year. The fact that there are two challengers, instead of one, makes it not unlikely that the incumbent can retain a plurality at the polls. Some of the statements by the challengers have been on the silly side. And of course, because Progressives simply refuse to rally around a single candidate for something as base as actually winning, the divided field provides as close to a guarantee as is possible in politics for the natural advantages of incumbency to come in play.

Who knows, lightning may strike. But it's clear that something is happening in that district, and that the 2008 campaign may come to be seen as a test run. Any incumbent that can be defeated by rallying 6,000 votes is in danger. Which is as it should be.

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