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.

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.

There are some ironies in the petition signature filings that took place across the state recently. Take the Democratic primary in the Third Senatorial District, for example.

On July 3, third-time contestant Jimmy Dahroug emailed his list with this message:

We've got more than the 1,000 signatures required for our place on the ballot. But we need as big a "cushion" of signatures as possible to stop any potential challenges from Brian Foley.

Jimmy Dahroug filed 1,400 signatures. Brian Foley, the Brookhaven Supervisor who got into the race on the day of the Suffolk County Democratic Convention, arguing that he was more electable against republican Caesar Trunzo (R-FL), collected 3,200. The number of valid signatures required to get on the ballot is 1,000. By comparison, SD-25 challenger Dan Squadron filed 8,000 signatures.

Now, if you've been running since 2003, and the grassroots angle is one you play very heavily in your promotion to voters, isn't it at least somewhat startling that you're getting creamed more than two to one on a core metric of grassroots support by someone who's only been running for a few weeks, as opposed to five years?

Dave Pollak just emailed over as follows:

The 2007 Elections are only 3 weeks away, and we need your help to guarantee Democratic success in critical races across NY State! Not only are we working to elect great Democratic candidates right now, but their victories will help build towards future Democratic victories in 2008 and beyond.

As you know, the NY Dems are hosting weekend canvassing on Long Island and weeknight phonebanking in Manhattan from now until Election Day, November 6. Our Long Island Political Director, Lauren Corcoran-Doolin (laurend [at] nydems [dot] org), has additional information about canvassing/phonebanking dates, places and times, or you can contact Claire Silberman at claire.silberman [at] gmail [dot] com with any other questions or comments. There are critical volunteer needs upstate as well so please contact our Upstate Political Director Cathy Calhoun at cathyc [at] nydems [dot] org to get people plugged in outside of the NYC area.

This brings me to a related subject: we all love to bitch and moan and complain about how bad the Democrats are, and all the many ways, large and small, they disappoint. I do this regularly and, frankly, with cause. Two words: Noach Dear.

That said, the concerns of people who actually go out there, knock on the doors, write the checks, carry the petitions, make the calls, in short, do the hard work, are far more likely to be heard.

So, let's get out there and get us some more, and better, Democrats.

Unnoticed by the chattering classes, the playing field for the 2008 battle over the State Senate is taking shape. The DSCC already has field teams on the ground in Long Island, softening up various incumbents; now, Jimmy Dahroug, running for Senate in the Third District, just released some truly remarkable fundraising numbers.

Dahroug:

I'm writing today to thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and kind words in the early months of our campaign. Also, I wanted to share some great news.
With your help, we've collected over $40,000 in receipts for our first filing! We did this in less than 8 weeks! Imagine what we can do by January.

This is a truly remarkable feat, but we haven't done it alone. The outpouring of support we've received - both financial and otherwise - sends a strong message that the people of Suffolk County are ready for a change.

Here's the video, via Kos. You really have to wonder what adjective King would use to describe, say, the Young Communists League.

On the web: Dave Mejias.

New York Newsday reports that Peter King seems to be getting a credible challenger; about effing time, I say.

Nassau Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), who sees a different tide rising. With President Bush's plummeting popularity, exploding gas prices, and public anger over the war, Denenberg says King is beatable and will announce next Sunday at Tackapausha Park, in King's hometown, that he plans to take on the 14-year incumbent.

"He thanks God every night that Bush is our president," said Denenberg, referring to a recent King letter. "But the rest of us cry."

Denenberg's impending candidacy has surprised some because he is entering a race on which two other incumbent Democrats took a pass. And that was before King got national headlines, spearheading the fight against the Dubai port deal. It not only made King appear independent of Bush, but it allied the conservative GOP lawmaker with liberal New York Sen. Charles Schumer.

"It's surprising because it comes after King not only raised his profile nationally but in the New York market, which is always tough even for an incumbent," said Amy Walter, senior editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which handicaps Congressional contests.

Denenberg, however, said a poll taken after the publicity showed that King is just as vulnerable as he was in December - when Suffolk Legis. David Bishop (D-West Babylon) took a poll showing King in jeopardy if an opponent can tie him to Bush and his policies.

"Did it give me pause? Sure," said Denenberg, "But the poll shows that on the issues, people are just not with him." Backers also say Denenberg could benefit from a strong state ticket and from the possibility that many Republicans will stay home.

Every republican in this state is beatable; the only thing standing in the way of a complete sweep is the fecklessness of the Democrats.