Political Capital

Two interesting political stories out of Albany, the first pertains to this year’s mayoral race in New York’s capital city, the other about next year’s governor’s race.

Columnist Paul Bray, writing in Sunday’s Albany Times Union dismisses the idea that City Councilman Corey Ellis (mentioned on this blog a day ago) is an impossible longshot to unseat four term incumbent Mayor Jerry Jennings. He likens Ellis’ bid to the miraculous path to victory taken by Barack Obama.

“Like Obama, Ellis is a community organizer…He has political experience as political director for Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ campaign and as chair of Albany for Obama, Ellis knows the political “ground game” of being up front and personal with voters. He is betting he and his supporters on the ground will make up for money he does not have.”

Meanwhile, all the money in the world may not be enough to save Governor David Patterson from almost certain defeat next year should he face either a Democratic primary challenge or a general election race against Republican Rudy Giuliani, according to political observers.

Patterson’s approval ratings are in the 20% range, lower than any governor in state history. Democratic insiders (and a lot of average citizens) are quietly hoping he’ll step aside and allow Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (son of former Governor Mario Cuomo) to run. Cuomo has a sizeable war chest already but has been coy about seeking the governor’s seat, although polls show he could beat both Patterson and Giuliani.