Tuesday Update: I am such a stupid idiot. After trying to reach Council Member McMahon over & over, I was told to call his brother Tom -- who, as it turns out, is one of the smarter people ever to work in NYC government and is now a lobbyist. Now I understand why, whenever I talk to people about Council Member McMahon, they start talking about his brother. In any case, Tom is working on his brother's campaign and, I am told, I won't get answers soon will get answers within a day . Liz Benjamin has learned that the Working Families Party has endorsed McMahon over Steve Harrison in the primary. See note at the end. The WFP had other primary endorsements as well. Wednesday Update Anti-climax of the week: Domenic Recchia drops out to support Michael McMahon. So far as I can tell, Mr. Recchia has not been in the district in months. Via Jonah at The Albany Project: Recchia said" As Democrats, we have an incredible opportunity before us, to turn a red seat blue and bring true change and real leadership to the residents in Staten Island and Brooklyn. That will not happen if we are not united as a party. Therefore, I am withdrawing my bid for the 13th Congressional district, and will support our party's nominee, Mike McMahon. Thank you to all of the people who believed in me, worked for me and fought for me over the last year - especially those who encouraged me to stay in the race despite the altered political landscape. Most of all, I would like to thank the voters of the congressional district, who welcomed me with open arms and believed in my message. I have not made any decisions about my political future and have no further comment at this time" But if he runs for Brooklyn Borough Presidentn in 2009 no one will be even mildly surprised.

Frank Powers, Fossella Fundraiser & Finance chair, will be the GOP candidate to succeed the recently retiring Vito Fossella Jr. Late Thursday night, the County GOP nominated Powers, a Todt Hill resident money-manager, who promised to personally contribute $500,000 to his own campaign and raise more. While Rep. Fossella was not present, his Father, Vito Fosella Sr. and his Uncle, Frank Fossella – both GOP movers and shakers – spoke warmly of Powers “I think Frank Powers is a wonderful person,” said Vito Fossella Sr. (The Fossellas did not, apparently, say that Powers was a family man). The GOP, therefore, by nominating a Fossella ally signals that the campaign they plan is more of the same: more war, more torture, more foreclosures, higher gas prices. In my view Mr. Powers’ past alliance with Rep. Fossella will cause any claim of independence from Bush-Chaney-Fossella to flunk the giggle test. Some professional political consultants viewed the choice of Mr. Powers as an error . Indeed, even Brooklyn Republicans were said to be unhappy . Back to the Democrats! As you may know, NYC Council Member Michael McMahon was selected by the State Island Democratic County Committee to run for the Congressional seat not Steve Harrison who has been campaigning all this time. A key question for me is: What sort of campaign will Mr. McMahon run against Mr. Harrison? Both the Staten Island Advance and Islanders I’ve spoken with view Mr. McMahon as a conservative Democrat. For example, this Advance Editorial called Mr. Harrison “too liberal” for Staten Island and Mr. McMahon as just right. In what may be a harbinger of campaign tone, it also repeatedly calls Harrison a Brooklynite . (Another Advance edit worth reading is here.. In addition, those watching this race should read Tom Wrobleski's long somewhat gossipy analysis in Sunday's SI Advance . Mr. Wrobleski suggests what many of us expect, that this will be a Democratic year for Staten Island and the 13th Cong. District. My read of his column is that he favors Mr. McMahon over Mr. Harrison. Will SI Democrats prefer a righter Democrat Islander to a lefter activist from Brooklyn? Will Mr. Harrison's grass roots campaign be able to overcome party organizations in Brooklyn and Staten Island? If Mr. McMahon runs as a conservative pro-war Democrat, many people like me will be extra inspired to work hard for Steve Harrison. If McMahon runs as a progressive, some of the Harrison-urgency will be diminished. Of course conventional professional consultants advocate that a candidate steer to the middle. (Rabble-rousers like me, of course, urge a leftward lurch). McMahon favored congestion pricing in the Council and has opposed Mayor Bloomberg’s Education budget cuts – both positions I agree with. I have not, as yet, carefully reviewed his record. Eight Questions for Council Member McMahon It must be very difficult to start running for Congress so late in the game. Michael McMahon says he wants to replace Vito Fossella. I called him up, spoke to his press aide, asked questions on two subjects – the war in Iraq and detention & torture. I hope to get answers back early next week. Iraq 1)Does he favor or oppose the war in Iraq? 2) Does he favor or oppose permanent US bases in Iraq, long-term (5+ years) stationing of troops in Iraq? 3) Were he in Congress, would he favor or oppose further funding for the war in Iraq? 4) Did he favor or oppose NYC Council resolutions opposing the war in Iraq? Torture, Detention , rights of Detainees 1) Does he agree with the position of the Bush Administration with regard to harsh interrogation procedure? Is Waterboarding, as an example, in his view, a lawful practice? 2) Does he support or oppose the extraordinary rendition process by which the US has seized foreign national abroad, flown them to detention facilities in third countries, and subjected them to (or allowed others to subject them to) "harsh interrogation procedures?" 3) Does he support or oppose the current use of military tribunals to try detainees in Guantanamo? 4) Does he support or oppose the use of habeas corpus to effect judicial review of the lawfulness of the detention of those held at Guantanamo? If you have other substantive questions you want me to ask, tell me quick. Questions about opportunism and fairness to Steve etc., however justified, please save for some other debate. Primary petitioning begins this week. Are you ready? Note: As I recall, the Working Families Party has, in the distant past, dispatched campaign workers to help Michael McMahon in his first primary race. If the WFP actually puts resources into McMahon's campaign, that would be, in my opinion, from a distance, important.