THE MOUSE THAT ROARED

....or whined. Of all the Democratic failures in Rensselaer County, the failure to challenge Senator Bruno has to top the list.

If this were any other year, the failure would not be as great. We could view it as 'run-of-the-mill' Democratic incompetence. But not this year.

There exists a very real possibility that statewide, the Democrats will run the table. That means, Spitzer, Clinton, Hevesi and Cuomo victories. The only real fight may be for Attorney General but Pirro has been so incompetent that she should consider moving to Rensselaer County and becoming a Democrat.

The only area where the Democrats might not prevail is the State Senate. They may take control. They may not. They will likely pick-up seats.

It will be a big Democratic year. While Rensselaer County isn't the epicenter of the New York State political world, the Democrats missed a great opportunity to make some noise and add to the Democratic victories this fall.

Here's our thinking, if we're the County Chair(s): It's going to be a big sweep this fall. Spitzer's moving into the Governor's Mansion, Clinton's heading back to Washington. Hevesi will be comptrolling for another four years and Cuomo will be Attorney Generalizing. How does Rensselaer County get in on the action? How do we make some noise?

Here's an idea: find and adequately fund a legitimate opponent to the second most powerful Republican in the state. Maybe you take him down. Maybe he barely wins. Either way, Democrats in Rensselaer County will have been heard. They will have shown some muscle.

Instead, they find a Republican who can't be bothered to register as a Democrat and then they fail to get him on the ballot.

It will hardly be news when Spitzer, Clinton, Hevesi and Cuomo win. If, and it's only an if, the Rensselaer County Democrats had taken out Senator Bruno, that would have been statewide political news.

Now, we'll never know.