NY and IL Always Make Me Feel Better

This has been a tough year for MA politics, with multiple indictments and arrests of public officials. But we always can fall back on our friends in New York and Illinois to make us feel better.

New York, fresh off a summer of discontent where leadership of the Senate shifted back and forth (at times, it seemed based on who could physically control the chamber), is now facing some weird sort of slow-motion-sorta-crisis with Governor Paterson.

Paterson is desperately unpopular and the NYTimes, allegedly has some sort of ‘bombshell’ story that it is preparing with some observers whispering that it might force him out of office. Its gotten to the point where a Republican gubernatorial candidate has actually called for the Times to print the story or get on with it.

Next, we turn to Illinois, where the Democratic LG nominee was forced to step down after allegations that of domestic violence, steroid use, and failure to pay child support. And his exit speech/press conference captured the surreal nature of Illinois politics — at a bar, during the Super Bowl, with a sobbing child at his side.

See? You feel better about our little Commonwealth, don’t you?