Politics Over People . . .

That's the thought that replayed over and over in my mind as I listened to two painful interviews with State Sen. James Seward this morning, the first on WIBX and the second on WUTQ.

What was painful was listening to the Senator's excuses for voting for Sen. Flanagan of  Long Island as the new Senate Majority leader over Sen. DeFrancisco from Syracuse. Per WIBX sources . . .

Seward’s vote was instrumental in keeping the leadership of the Republican run senate on Long Island. . .
Seward seemed to gloss over the vote when speaking with Keeler saying, “by the time the vote got to (him) it was already decided.” Keeler challenged that point and asked about inside sources who say 2 Long Island senators threatened to retire if Flanagan wasn’t elected, which would most likely lead to the Republicans losing their majority in the Senate

Mr. Seward was not the only one.  Six Upstate Republicans threw in for the Downstater over the guy from Syracuse.    Per the Syracuse paper

Some Upstate conservatives felt Monday's vote was a blow to the gut.

Seward responded, "I would say, I'm more concerned with the agenda that's pursued rather than with where a leader is from."   

Well what agenda is that, Mr. Seward?

In both interviews Seward in sickening fashion rattled on and on about his "agenda" dealing with some of the intricacies of the SAFE Act and the Common Core rollout. . . . things that would be of interest to Republicans in Westchester and Long Island.

But these problems are symptoms of a much bigger issue for everyone North and West of Poughkeepsie: Upstate's borderline Third World economy caused by The Tyranny of the Downstate Majority.

Simply put, for our region the difference between Republican and Democrat is not as significant as the difference between Upstate and Downstate.  Here was the opportunity, via the Majority Leader position, for Upstate to strongly influence the "agenda" -- to advance an Upstate Agenda -- but the 6 Upstate Republicans including Mr. Seward who voted for Mr. Flanagan blew it. 

They were more concerned about their party than their constituents.