Unexpected victories delight everyone. Back in 1984, Senate Minority Leader Fred Ohrenstein decided to diss a local County legislator running for Senate in Syracuse after she’d been dissed by one of her own references, the local County Leader. Waking up election morning, Fred’s Chief of Staff found out she’d won and immediately told all who would listen of his brilliant strategic decision not to draw attention to the race and thereby draw to it Republican resources he couldn’t hope to overcome. The new Senator was Nancy Larraine Hoffman, soon known in both Albany and Syracuse as "The Tail of Two Cities" (and later as "The Tail of Two Parties", a title apparently acquired even before she switched to become a Republican).
On the other hand, unexpected near-victories are a stone-drag, as well as humiliating proof that someone was asleep at the switch and didn’t know what they were doing. And, for sure, if only the Queens Democrats had any idea how much trouble Serph Maltese was in, they would not have sat on their hands. Take it to the bank (the usual Queens Democratic strategy); they would have been out there, full force, to ensure Maltese’s re-election.
As it was, they had the half plausible excuse that the Democratic nominee’s curriculum vitae (an arrest involving guns) and his campaign manager (to put the best possible face on it, talented, but not used to playing well with regulars) did not lend an air of confidence in a race which everyone seemed to believe was daunting. So, maybe the boys from Austin Street should be forgiven for this particular trespass. But, what can't be forgiven is their decision to not field a real candidate and make a real effort in the first place; it didn't have to be Al Baldeo. One wonders whether Councilman Joe Adabbo, already encouraged by Mike Bloomberg, would have decided differently if he'd gotten any support at home. Unfortunately, visions of sugar-plumbs, delivered by Serph Maltese, danced in their heads. In other words, the sin committed by Crowley and Company wasn't that they preferred having Maltese over a Democrat they couldn't control; the real crime committed by the Queens Democratic Organization was that they preferred having Maltese over a Democrat they could control.
Of course, now that Malcolm Smith, a business in which they are the majority shareholders, is Minority Leader, the boys from Austin Street might actually have a more formidable pecuniary interest (seemingly the only interest which interests them) in taking the majority, rather than being serfs and chumps taking Serph’s chump change.
Joe Crowley, please remember the words of Gordon Gekko: "Greed is Good". Next time, go for it, and take out Padavan too!
(Note: as per Roscoe, the names have now been spell-checked)