Belmont Outlook Uncertain

- The general wisdom is that a Republican hold on the NY Senate Majority on Tuesday would help to maintain whatever momentum there may currently be for a slots parlor at Belmont. Current Majority Leader Dean Skelos is a strong proponent of the games, and represents parts of the surrounding communities. Governor Paterson probably wants them too, in my mind; but he did not explicitly say so in his statement this past week about "developing" the site.

However, I think what will happen post-election is up in the air. The enmity between Paterson and Skelos has reached the point where one might wonder if the two would be able to work together on that, or any other issue should the GOP prevail. Skelos went as far as to say that Paterson was "more partisan" than Eliot Spitzer...."From what I can remember, Spitzer helped do some TV ads," he said, noting that Paterson is traveling around the state to campaign for Democratic candidates.

The governor did just that on Saturday, appearing in Buffalo on behalf of embattled incumbent Senator William Stachowski, and hopeful Joe Mesi. He's scheduled to make two appearances on Long Island on Sunday.

On the other hand, if the Democrats pick up the two seats they need (and a new Siena poll on Sunday is supposed to cast some light on the key races), then Paterson can take ownership of the matter himself, cite the desperate nature of the state's finances, and perhaps convince Senate Democrats to go along in the immediate glow of achieving supreme state dominance.

Of course, no matter what happens, there's that slight Shelley Silver problem.

Newsday endorsed the Republicans in the two races that Paterson will involve himself in on Sunday. The influential Long Island paper tabbed Senator Kemp Hannon over Kristen McElroy in SD-6; and in SD-3, it recommended 82-year old Senator Caesar Trunzo, despite lamenting that his nearly four decades in Albany have given him a jaded perspective on what it's possible to accomplish there.