SD-3: The Debate On Long Island

Millions watched Barack Obama and John McCain go at it Tuesday night in Tennessee and millions more will tune in for the final debate at Hofstra out on Long Island. In between the two main events, Long Island hosted a debate for the lesser known race yet still important contest for State Senate District three. On one side is the thirty-seven year incumbent and octogenarian Caesar Trunzo with the GOP shorts. On the other side of the ring, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian Foley wore the Democratic seal in his quest to change Albany.

From Newsday:

"God forbid he should win the Senate seat and the Democrats take over," said Trunzo, the most senior of GOP senators. "He'll run into a situation where he'll be a junior member [and] ... rather than getting any of the funding that's necessary he'll be at the bottom of the list. I know the system - it's been there a long time and seniority has a lot to do with what you get."

Foley, 50, countered that Trunzo is part of a "system that everyone knows is broken" and promised to "repair that system," nationally known for its "dysfunctional" ways.

"Contrary to the doom and gloom Caesar is describing, I will be able to deliver for Long Island as [freshman] Democratic Senator Craig Johnson will be able to deliver for Nassau County," Foley said. "We'll be the new Long Island voices in Albany, and we are going to make a difference."

It may not have been a performance worthy of Hofstra (the article notes the syntax-challenged Trunzo and the stiff-sounding Foley) but in a way resembles the Presidential contest. Like Trunzo, McCain has been a part of a broken system for decades. Brian Foley represents a new way of doing things and changing Albany for the better. If Foley and just one other Senate Democratic challenger can earn the confidence of the electorate, then Albany and New York as a whole can begin to see that change in their daily lives.