Suprise, suprise…. When Pataki was in office his biggest foe was Bruno. Now the tide has turned and Silver will be Spitzers. Like I have said, Spitzer can say what he wants, he can say he is for reform and this and that but if the assembly doesn’t want it, it won’t get done. Remember, Silver has a veto proof majority. Maybe this time people will start seeing it from the Democrat side of the aisle.

Already, signs of strain - Newsday.com
Spitzer wants an ‘outsider’ to replace Hevesi as comptroller while Silver wants an ally from Assembly

ALBANY - The talks over who should replace former Comptroller Alan Hevesi have put the first strain on the relationship between Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the state’s top two Democrats.

Spitzer, who was inaugurated Monday, has been lobbying Silver, who controls the legislative vote over a Hevesi successor, to support an “outsider” with financial experience, not a member of the legislature.

“It isn’t a public fight,” said a source close to the governor, “but fault lines have emerged. ”

Silver supports a pick from his allies in the Assembly, and during an interview yesterday he dismissed the notion that his members would be unprepared for the job, which includes oversight of the state’s pension fund.

“That’s not the only part of the job,” said Silver, who noted that most of the duties involve oversight of state agencies.

“It’s a political function,” Silver said. “The comptroller should be a good manager. ”

Interviews with people close to the speaker suggest that he favors two contenders: Assembs. Thomas DiNapoli (D-Great Neck) and Joseph Morelle (D-Rochester).

One source close to Silver said DiNapoli has the best chance. “I’d gamble on that,” the source said.

Silver had favorable words for DiNapoli yesterday: “He’s a close friend of mine and one of my most respected members. ”

DiNapoli, making his own case during an interview yesterday, said he had some financial credentials, including helping craft a $105-million bailout for Nassau County. “There are a variety of experiences one gets as a legislator,” DiNapoli said.

Asked about his limited financial resume, the Assembly environmental chairman said, “There are experts hired to do that. ”

He also noted that Hevesi, who resigned after misusing employees to chauffeur his wife, had been a state assemblyman.

Morelle, for his part, has become more of a prospect because he is from upstate, an area not represented in the highest ranks of state power. The elected statewide leaders - both U.S. senators, governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general - are all downstate residents.

In the face of Spitzer’s case for someone from outside the legislature, some Assembly Democrats said they were put off by the governor’s choice of Republican state Sen. Michael Balboni, of East Williston, to be his homeland security chief. The thought among some Democrats has been, if a lawmaker should be chosen from across party lines for that job, why not a Democrat for comptroller?

Other candidates include Democratic Assembly members Richard Brodsky, of Westchester; Felix Ortiz, of Brooklyn; and Alexander “Pete” Grannis, of Manhattan. Spitzer continues to support William Mulrow, a financial executive from Westchester who lost a bid for comptroller in 2002.

At the Capitol, there was anecdotal evidence yesterday of the jockeying among lawmakers vying for the post.

Brodsky was chatting with a few colleagues about his prospects when one legislator, state Sen. Thomas Libous (R-Binghamton), playfully chided him for wearing jeans and cowboy boots - not looking the part of a comptroller. “I’m being an outsider,” Brodsky joked.