Embarrassing!

What an embarrassing and awkward press conference it must have been for Democratic Chairman and State Assemblyman Joe Morelle when State Senate candidate Mary Wilmot went on a tirade about the dysfunction in Albany.

Poor little Joe, an Assemblyman for almost 20 years and part of the entrenched Democratic Assembly leadership under Shelly Silver, had to stand next to his endorsed candidate and endure her rant about Albany politicians and the need to throw them out.

With Morelle standing at her side and looking uncomfortable (so I’m told), let’s take a quick look at three parts of candidate Wilmot’s announcement speech (according to reporter Sean Dobbin from a 6/20/10 D&C article):

(1) Mary Wilmot officially announced her campaign for the 55th state Senate District on Saturday morning at a ceremony in Schoen Place in Pittsford. Standing with U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, and state Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Wilmot railed against the current culture in Albany, calling the state a "national embarrassment."

Hey, can someone please remind these two that Joe Morelle has been in the Assembly for almost two decades, is a sitting committee chairman and according to his website - "one of the Assembly’s most senior members." This sounds to me like Joe is a part of the “current culture in Albany” that she referred to as a “national embarrassment.”

(2) She (Wilmot) referenced the state's budget crisis and uncontrolled government spending as evidence of Albany's dysfunction.

Now, that was a classic statement!

Please, someone remind them that Joe Morelle and his Democratic colleagues control all of Albany and state government, and thus are responsible for the budget crisis and the uncontrollable government spending that Wilmot criticized so stingingly.

Let’s not forget that Morelle, one of the Assembly’s most senior members (so says his website) and Democratic colleagues still can’t agree on a state budget and pass it on time.

(3) "Some current state senators have simply been in office too long," said Wilmot, a Democrat who formerly ran Gov. David Paterson's office in Rochester. "A train wreck on autopilot, they are more interested in sustaining their status quo and the perks of their job, and they've lost sight of what serving their constituents really means. It's time for them to go."

Let’s see…. Last time I checked, Morelle has been an Assemblyman longer than Jim Alesi has been a Senator and Democrats have controlled the Assembly for what seems an eternity. So, if we analyze Wilmot’s remarks as also relevant to the State Assembly establishment, we then could certainly apply them to Joe Morelle. Can anyone prove me wrong here?

In summary-
Really Joe, didn’t you have someone review her remarks before she blasted you and your fellow Democrats who control the Assembly, Senate and Governor’s office?

Also, just as a point of reference and for a good laugh, Morelle’s candidate Mary Wilmot formerly ran both Governor Paterson’s Rochester office and the Senate Democratic Majority operations based in Rochester… Yes, the very same contributors responsible for a culture in Albany she calls a “national embarrassment.”