Assembly Democrats emerged from a 90-minute closed-door meeting on Thursday to announce their overwhelming support for Speaker Sheldon Silver, who faces a five-count federal indictment on fraud and corruption.
“I’m continuing to support the speaker and I would say the members are overwhelmingly from the conversation that we just had are continuing their support,” said Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, who was joined by dozens of Silver’s 106-member Democratic conference in the Assembly.
In a somewhat chaotic and cramped gaggle with reporters, Morelle insisted members in the meeting remain loyal to Silver, who has held the speaker’s gavel since 1994.
“We believe he can continue on as speaker,” Morelle said.
He added there is an “overwhelming belief in the presumption of innocence” among the members of the conference.
Among those standing behind Morelle to show solidarity with Silver and the conference:
Assemblyman Bill Scarborough, a Queens Democrat who faces his own corruption charges pertaining to the misuse of per diems.
The news conference underscored the bedrock of support Silver has built up over the last 21 years as the speaker of a fractious body of members with competing political, ethic and geographic concerns.
Overwhelming support from the Democratic conference in the Assembly.
I guess Silver's really inspired some loyalty - or knows where the bodies are buried.
In any case, interesting news if you're a teacher hoping Cuomo doesn't get 100% of the agenda he pushed yesterday in his budget/State of the State speech.
If Silver's still in power - even with a five count indictment against him - there may still be a check against Cuomo in the budget negotiations.
We'll see.
UPDATE: Silver not totally out of the woods with his conference yet:
People are feeling overwhelmed,” said one Democratic lawmaker. “They haven’t processed anything, and they are not prepared to make any shifts or changes without knowing more stuff.
We'll see if Silver maintains control of things or if, after weeks of getting hammered in the press, some of his members start to think it would be better to look elsewhere for a leader.
So long as they fear he can survive this, they won't go there.
But if and when they sense he cannot, that's when things get even more interesting than they already are.
It's good to hear that Silver's fellow democrats believe in him and want him to continue as speaker. What's your take on Silver taking on Tisch? Is there a chance of Silver telling her behind closed doors to lay off the teachers or do you think that he may strategically look for a way of replacing her? I know that they are "neighbors" but teachers are so extremely unhappy with her education policies and her heavy-handedness on using state scores to rate teachers that I'm hoping that she has "unforeseen occurrence" befall her.
ReplyDeleteThings are so surreal tight now, who knows? Tisch obviously has Silver's backing, I don't see that changing post-arrest. But who knows?
DeleteBahahahaha. Its funny because they think we're really that stupid. Oh wait perhaps we are that stupid....
ReplyDelete"Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we're tired of hearing promises that we know they'll never keep."
Ray Davies
Love it. Stay on Shelly. Give the filthy teachers some hope.
ReplyDeleteIt's over! Werner dropped the big one!
ReplyDeleteAnimal House
Thank you Mike and Karen you worthless p.o.s!
Ah, if only we were up against the dean from Animal House!
DeleteSilver is great politician and has been a great supporter of education in NYC. Doesn't the whole timing of this seem staged? There's tremendous amounts of money to made by privateers on Cuomo's agenda. The pirates are waiting to plunder. Right after Cuomo declares war on teachers, the one person who can stop him is arrested!
ReplyDeleteThe timing gives me pause, that's for sure. Bharara likes attention - he got some today.
DeleteThe members may want Shelly to stay on long enough to give them cover for the fight to see who can get to 54 first and take the gavel away from him.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I think that there will be a crescendo of calls for his resignation from the public and papers that will be impossible for members to resist for long. This is simply a holding operation designed to keep the chaos from spilling too openly out into the streets.
When one of them does get to 54--presumably with the help of the Governor who despite all the gnashing of teeth about whether he wants to actually own his new "Opportunity Agenda" as sole proprietor despises Silver--I assure you that there will be a Night of the Long Knives for Shelly and the members who've been perhaps a bit too tight with him these last twenty years.
I agree, Harris. So long as there's concern Silver can survive, potential successors are going to have trouble getting support. But once they do - bar the door. And the hammering that's going to come from the press and public has only just begun.
DeleteAs a lifelong Democrat (FDR & Eleanor Dem) the vision of partisan Dems supporting corruption tells the reality of our corrupted politics that serves big-money and self-interest and not the people. Hiding behind the "innocent until proven guilty" deceit makes all who do so complicit to the crime and is a further betrayal of NY citizens; this corruption is a theft and is of course not limited to one party but is pervasive throughout NY politics with rare exceptions.
ReplyDelete