Deal With The Gang Of Three Devils May Fall Apart

While Malcolm Smith names various Senators to be Committee Chairs, there is no guarantee that any of that will be set in stone come the time the chamber convenes in January. Plenty of Senate Democrats are fuming that Smith made a deal with the Gang of Three and were not consulted about it.

City Hall News has the details:

Though State Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith has issued statements asserting full support from among his fellow Democrats and is poised to announce three committee chairs and one leadership position Monday morning, members of the conference are far from sold on a deal he brokered to gain the support of the so-called Gang of Three. And they are warning that any agreements he makes, even those which are publicly announced, may not hold until Jan. 7, when the Senate is set to reconvene.

The frustration is the result not just of a deal many Democratic members believe went too far—“a deal made with the devil, or three of them,” one said—but of the way in which Smith presented the deal to the conference. Smith agreed to making State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) chair of the Finance Committee and incoming State Sen. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) majority leader without first notifying any of his members of the details, and has since left members of the conference with the feeling that he has been less than straightforward.

“Malcolm has lied to the conference,” said one.

It seems Malcolm is saying one thing to his conference and another to the Gang, but all of it gets aired out in public and he has a lot to lose from behavior like that. If Smith pulls out of the deal to appease the majority of the caucus, his power may be ceded to the Republicans. Then again, no one is sure if the Gang really want to take the risk of heading fully over to the dark side, possibly endangering their re-election bids in heavily Democratic districts. If Smith keeps the deal, the caucus may drop their support of Smith, whom many are peeved that he would cave so easily to the renegades. Either way, high drama will ensue and there is no guarantee that what makes up the political landscape today will be the same tomorrow.