I spent a couple of hours yesterday watching the debates between Long Island candidates for the New York State Senate on News 12.  It was, for the most part, a painful exercise.  The incumbents were somewhat polished in their comments.  The challengers, not so much.

For the most part, the challengers were sacrificial lambs.  Some came dressed in what appeared to be their Halloween costumes.  Others repeated a catchphrase, without regard to its lack of applicability to the question, seemingly in lieu of any knowledge or appreciation of the issues. 

The incumbents looked the part, and demonstrated a facial working knowledge of the issues.  They offered no solutions to any problems during my listening period, but generally responded that they had to “work on” this and “fix” that.  Why they hadn’t done so in their last 12 terms went unquestioned and unexplained.  It really wasn’t much of a debate, a word used to describe the situation in only the loosest possible way.  For the most part, all of the candidates agreed with each other on what was needed, “more services, lower taxes, smarter, more efficient, less corrupt, less abuse, more transparent” government. 

Only once did a candidate take a direct swipe at another, that being Barbara Donno against Democratic incumbent Craig Johnson.  Johnson’s seat is considered “at risk,” and Donno is going for blood.  He got his first county lege seat when his mother died.  Mrs. Simple Justice was friends with Craig’s mother, who was an incredible woman.  Donno came off as a serious candidate, but pointless and nasty.  She claimed residents complained that Craig “didn’t represent them” in Albany, without further explanation. 

Then, a debate began that rocked me to my core.  Two men vying for the 3rd Senate District, comprised of Islip, Smithtown and Brookhaven, took the stage.  There he was, an honest man.

No, it wasn’t challenger Brian Foley, Brookhaven Supervisor who was elected when all available Republican politicians were exhausted through indictment and imprisonment after the name change from Crookhaven.

It was 82 year old State Senator Caesar Trunzo.  Physically, he stands just over three feet tall, with a wattle the size of the Pine Barrens, but politically the man is a giant.  His argument for why he should be re-elected was clear and direct:  I’ve been there a long time,. I bring lots of cash to my district because of seniority.  The system works great.  Vote for the other guy and he’ll be at the bottom of the cash list.  He won’t bring in the cash.  I bring the money.

No nonsense.  No malarkey about lowering taxes and protecting the environment.  He’s got the loot and he’s bringing it home.  You want the loot, elect him.  Caesar Trunzo is perfect.

And he’s right about the cash.  Brian Foley will be at the bottom of the list, with the other rookies.  He won’t get the member money doled out by the Republican Senate.   Nothing has ever been said that more truly reflects the New York State Legislature than Trunzo’s pitch.  It’s a cash and carry legislature, and everything else is just fluff to appease the masses.

This is the real question for voters.  Do they want to maintain a cash and carry legislature, one where seniority gets the cash and votes are bought and sold.  Of course, if Trunzo brings home cash, it has to come from somewhere, meaning that some other district isn’t getting the cash it may need and deserve.  But “need and deserve” have no place in Albany.  Trunzo made that clear. 

Of course, if you happen to be on the receiving end of Trunzo’s payout, he’s a great Senator.  But remember that the money comes from one pocket to end in another, and just as someone in Schenectady may be paying for Caesar’s gifts, you can end up footing the bill for that downtown Rochester revival.  People get stupid when it comes to connecting taxes with services, forgetting that somebody has to pay every shiny new toy.  The trick is getting more than you pay for, which means someone else gets less.  That’s the Albany way.

Newsday has taken a stand on the 3rd Senatorial district.

Trunzo, 82, has kept being re-elected because he delivers for his district. But his nearly four decades in Albany have given him a jaded perspective on what it’s possible to accomplish there. More than once during a joint appearance by Trunzo and Foley before this board, Trunzo responded to an idea of Foley’s by referring to it as a dream. Ouch!

So the choice is between an incumbent who sees getting things done in Albany as a lost cause – the sad thing is, too often he’s probably right – and a challenger with a lot of ideas – some of them insufficiently detailed – but an inflated estimate of what a single senator can do.

In the end, it comes down to this: On balance, we think a GOP-controlled Senate will probably be better able to protect Long Island interests in this current fiscal crisis. So we endorse Trunzo.

Standing atop his pile of member money, Trunzo looks very tall indeed.  Who wants to take a chance on “dreams” when there’s cash to be had.  Newsday, in fact, endorsed every single incumbent for the Senate, though no other was as honest as Trunzo.  Others pretended to care about something other than their own re-election, when all they really want is to be Caesar Trunzo.

Long Islanders pay extraordinarily high taxes, but then we demand an awful lot of services.  As long as cash is thrown at the things we like, predominantly schools, we close our eyes to foolishness, graft and corruption.  It would be far too much effort to figure things out, and we are all much too important to waste our time becoming part of the solution.  So the true electoral mission is to continue our profligate ways, but at the expense of those dumb hicks upstate and those unworthy minorities in the City. 

The one true goal of politics on Long Island is to take other people’s money and spend it here, so we don’t have to spend our own or deal with our mess.  If this suits you, then Caesar Trunzo is your perfect politician, and the one honest man in Albany.  He brings home the loot and he’s not afraid to tell you.  But if you elect Caesar Trunzo, stop your griping.  You got what you wanted.