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Senate Republicans reacted with fury over their participation this weekend by their minority colleagues in the Democratic Rural Conference convention in Saratoga Springs - the heart of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's district - that boldly bore the theme: "Take Back the Senate!"
Bruno spokesman John McArdle called it "totally obnoxious" for the Democrats to attend the event at the height of a budget stalemate. Brooklyn Sen. Marty Golden echoed that sentiment.
"It's really sad," Golden said. "They just don't get it. Even though (former Gov. Eliot) Spitzer fell three weeks ago, they put politics ahead of policy. It's time to put that garbage behind us."
Gov. David Paterson opted to stay away from the convention, which he was scheduled to address Friday night, claiming he preferred to focus on the budget.
But the event drew nearly every other statewide elected official (with the exception of Hillary Clinton) including AG Andrew Cuomo, widely viewed as a potential challenger to Paterson in 2010, who delivered what sounded a lot like a campaign stump speech, and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who insists he's not going to run against Paterson in 2010 but is considered a contender anyway.
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith keynoted a lunch at the convention Saturday and received his very own version of the signature cowboy hat worn by DRC Chairman Stu Brody, leading the crowd to dub him Smith the "Queens farmer."
Smith introduced a number of Democratic challengers to incumbent GOP senators, indicating that upstate will be a battleground this fall.
Smith, who headed home to Queens Friday night for a fundraiser after Paterson specifically asked lawmakers to stick around and work on the budget, also lambasted the Senate Republicans for talking a good game about property tax relief and job creation but then, in his opinion, failing to follow through.
He panned the GOP's habit of highlighting the upstate-downstate divide, insisting: "We are one New York."
After the lunch, I caught up with Smith and asked whether he thought he might be treading in dangerous waters by picking up where Spitzer left off in trying to flip the Senate - an effort that cost the former governor dearly. (Troopergate blah, blah).
Smith insisted his approach is "different all together" than Spitzer's "aggressiveness," adding:
"Joe talks all the time about maintaining control of the Senate. I don't find that antagonistic. That's the rules of engagement."
