EDITORIALS
Consider upstate senator
Clinton’s possible move to Cabinet opens Western New York opportunity
The question of who might inherit Hillary Clinton’s seat in the U. S. Senate has been worth thinking about for more than two years, ever since she made her presidential candidacy official. The speculation has come back in a whirl now that Clinton is being rumored as President-elect Barack Obama’s first choice for secretary of state.
Gov. David A. Paterson, who has said he understands the need for our often-neglected area to have a larger voice in government, could create some much-needed balance of power by naming, if given the chance, a new senator from Western New York.
As of this writing, the idea of Obama building a Lincolnstyle “team of rivals” Cabinet remains informed speculation.
The two former combatants in the marathon Democratic nomination process have met and transition staffers are known to be vetting both the senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, something that didn’t happen when Obama was picking a running mate.
If Sen. Clinton does become Secretary Clinton, it will fall to Paterson to name a replacement to serve until 2010, when a special election would be held to fill out the last two year’s of Clinton’s term. Whoever got the appointment would have a brief bit of incumbency on which to run for a full term.
The governor says he will not name himself to the post, though there is little doubt that his consideration will be limited to fellow Democrats. Names put forward by the mentioners include state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his cousin Caroline Kennedy, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and downstate House members such as Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler.
All are viable and qualified contenders. And all live within a taxi ride, if not within sight, of Central Park.
About the only Western New Yorker to receive even a passing glance in the state’s press is Buffalo’s U. S. Rep. Brian Higgins. And, maybe, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, if only because he is known to be an old friend of Paterson’s from the days both served in the State Senate.
The name of Rep. Louise Slaughter of Fairport also belongs in the mix — unless there’s a feeling she’s too near the end of her career or that she, or her constituents, wouldn’t want to give up her powerful spot as chairwoman of the House Rules Committee.
We won’t pick a favorite here, at this stage of the speculation. We will encourage the governor to remember that so many of the state’s most powerful offices — including his own, the leadership of both houses of the Legislature and the state’s other U. S. Senate seat — are held by people who hail from New York City and its immediate environs.
Naming a new senator who could bring real Western New York knowledge and feelings to the job — and have a two-year head-start on running for statewide election against rivals that will almost certainly be from downstate — could do a lot for the area’s political pull. And, unlike so many other favors we seek, it won’t cost state taxpayers a dime.
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