James V. Franco: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's letter is nice, but cash would be better

Sen. Roy McDonald got a big boost yesterday when the wildly popular Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in no uncertain terms he would support the incumbent should he actively campaign on just the Independence Party line.

Support can come in two ways though: Write a nice letter or help come up with enough cash to beat not only the Democrat but also the Republican who just beat you in a primary by about 100 votes.

If it's just the former then McDonald and McDonald decides to actively campaign he would split the vote with Saratoga County Kathy Marchione helping Democrat Robin Andrews, the Claverack supervisor, win in November.

If it's the latter, and Cuomo shakes the trees -- and the donors -- for McDonald, then McDonald has a real chance to win the race on just a minor party line.

He just spent well in excess of $500,000 to boost his already formidable name recognition and he became a hero to many -- and got national attention -- with his vote on same sex marriage last June. It upset many in his once conservative base, however, and Marchione successfully used it against him in the primary. A general is different than a primary, however, and the key will be the more moderate voters rather than the conservative Republican Party base.

And the district, with the addition of Columbia County is decidedly more moderate than when it was Joe Bruno's.

As far as the Democratic candidate goes, Andrews may be somewhat known in Columbia County but not many in this county or up north in Saratoga County have ever heard of her. And, as of July, she had just over $24,000 in the bank. That's not enough.

McDonald did burn through most of his campaign cash and has about $40,000 in the bank, I'm told. Marchione was widely outspent by McDonald but she spent most of her money too and while she had the polarizing issue of same sex marriage in the primary it won't play as well in the general. She will have to swing to the middle and that won't be easy to do if McDonald has enough money to remind people where she stood during the primary.

In the end, a letter from the governor applauding you for "doing what is right" and standing up for your principals is nice. But it's not as nice as a boatload of cash.


Tonight, the long-simmering showdown between Chair Tom Wade and the groups of Democrats who want to take him out goes down in North Greenbush.

Both sides are working hard and gathering proxies and while I think it's going to be somewhat close my money is still on Wade. About a month ago, the "delusional bunch" as Wade calls one of the factions of Democrats who want to oust him, was telling me they had a wide lead and it wasn't even going to be close. Even tossed out some weighted vote numbers. Now, they are telling me "it's going to be close."

Either way, but you can bet tonight will be a raucous meeting. Thank God Wade has opened it up to the press because I may get some popcorn and head over to the American Legion Hall on Main Avenue in Wynantskill. I'm guessing, as far as pure entertainment value goes, it will be better than anything that's on television.

The GOP chair

Meanwhile, as two Democrats who obviously really want to be chair duke it out tonight, the Rensselaer County Republican Party is having the opposite problem -- finding someone who wants the job.

When the party does hold its own organizational meeting on Saturday, it will likely vote Chair John Rustin back into the job until at least after the Nov. 6 election and then figure out what to do.

Rustin is a good guy who took over last year after Neil Kelleher stepped down. Rustin's largely been a figurehead while the nuts and bolts of the work has been done by Rich Crist, spokesman for the majority on the Legislature.

Sure, County Executive Kathy Jimino has a bunch of county jobs, and Clerk Frank Merola has some jobs to offer too but they really don't have a role or an interest in the street level, organizational stuff Crist has taken care of for years.

There was one name bantered about with some regularity last week, but Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin he tells me he is more focused on his re-election bid against Cheryl Roberts and he doesn't really want it. Others, like Troy Chair Jim Gordon or even Crist himself, work for the county and the Ethics Law prevents them from formally becoming the chair.

The shakeup, if that's what you want to call it, comes on the heels of Rensselaer County being the deciding factor in Marchione's win over McDonald. The two pretty much tied in Columbia and Saratoga counties -- while Marchione won the two town's in Washington County that are part of the 43rd -- but she won Rensselaer County by some 250 votes.

The loss is a black eye for the Republican establishment here who backed McDonald both with Merola's public endorsement and the behind the scenes work by Crist and Rustin. Jimino didn't endorse in the race because her camp says neither candidate would guarantee mandate relief but I think there was more to it than that. Jimino is pretty good at hedging her bets.

I don't expect the GOP to wage a public war like the Democrats but there is some finger pointing going on and some maneuvering too.

James V. Franco can be reached at 478-5343