Articles

04.05.17

Schumer's Task Is Democratic Unity

Chuck Schumer was dealt a weak hand by the 2016 elections. He is the Senate minority leader, not the majority leader, as most thought might happen last fall. And now, he faces several obstacles in a high-stakes game of political pinochle.After Donald Trump's inauguration, Democrats were ...


10.03.16

Kaine, Pence Have Clear Missions at VP Debate

Tomorrow’s vice presidential debate most likely won’t capture the voters’ imagination, and it will certainly not draw as many viewers as last week’s presidential debate, but it could still play a meaningful tactical role.The recent history of vice presidential debates bears ...


08.15.16

Politicians Should Mind the Climate Change Gap

Over the last decade, two gaps have had a huge impact on American politics, especially here in New York state: the gender gap and the race gap. A third electoral gap is on the cusp of joining them – the climate change gap.I coined the term “climate change gap” when I found it ...


04.13.16

What Is the Path to Victory for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in New York?

What Is the Path to Victory for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in New York?By Bruce GyoryNew York SlantAs the presidential race centers squarely upon New York state, the seminal question becomes, can Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rebound in their home state?Just over half of Republican voters ...


11.07.15

What the Pundits Keep Missing About 2016

The initial mistake by pundits early in the 2016 presidential race was to prematurely predict that campaigns by political outsiders—non-establishment candidates—would evaporate at a first gaffe or controversy.Now, the same so-called experts ignore that a polling ceiling hangs over the ...


10.06.15

Charisma vs. Competence: The D.A. Races in Nassau and Staten Island

There are two very intriguing district attorney races on the ballot this November, in Nassau County and Staten Island, which are not getting the attention they deserve. Both races present voters with the same clear choice: Do they want political potential from candidates they know, or ...


05.31.15

Protect the Vital Center

Last week brought a report from Fred Dicker in the New York Post that the well-funded anti-abortion Chiaroscuro Foundation was contemplating fomenting primaries against incumbent Republican state Senators on Long Island. This mirrored earlier rumors of Tea Party primaries next year against ...


05.14.15

Flanagan's Win Maps Road to Success for LI Candidates

Long Island cast a collective sigh this week, when John Flanagan was elected State Senate majority leader. The region feared it would lose a key leadership position in Albany to an upstate lawmaker.Flanagan (R-East Northport) no doubt remembered the painful lessons of 2002, when he lost by a ...


03.25.15

Budget-Making Is Political Theater in Albany

Budgets in Albany, as in Julius Caesar's Gaul, are divided into thirds: hard dollars and cents, policy wrangling and political theater. Budgets are wrapped up only when all three elements are in alignment and when all three sides -- the governor, the Senate and the Assembly -- feel they can ...


12.07.14

Climate Change Will Make More Politicians Into Environmentalists

By the time the 2016 presidential election formally gets underway, pundits are likely to debate the climate change gap in the same breath as they argue over the gender gap.Voters already have telegraphed elected officials that they need to take global warming seriously, because they do. Or face the ...