The election post mortem continues…

Ever since the advent of live cable TV news, candidates on nearly every level of government get to go on camera to deliver victory and concession speeaches. Wasn’t this a privilege once reserved only for people running for president?

Well, now it seems that even the winning and losing candidate for municipal dog catcher goes on the air to bravely, defiantly or tearfully talk about what a tough campaign it was and to thank all his/her loyal supporters. This year’s elections featured a proliferation of these increasingly annoying moments. Everyone’s in show business.

Some obserevations:

JOHN HALL: The fomer frontman for the gooey-soft rock band Orleans pulled off an upset victory over Sue Kelly in the 19th Congressional District. He gave a nice speech before a throng of well-wishers and then…he sang. It’s as if he couldn’t help himself. Worse, he was off key. This made me cringe.

ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS: She pulled off an upset, too, in the 35th state Senate against the forever-incumbent Nick Spano, who has to concede. Nevertheless, Stewart-Cousins declared victory, which was perfectly appropriate. The weird part was that she thanked just about everyone she ever met in her life, a long list. This bordered on the ludricous, but it also served to give ridiculous exposure to the people standing behind her, e.g. Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, who seemed inordinately anxious to jockey for position so his face stayed in the TV picture, and County Legislator Jose Alvarado, who seemed mentally challenged and kept trying to lead a chant of “Andrea.”
Candidates should limit the people who stand by them to spouses, children and one or two party leaders.

ALAN HEVESI: This one really cracked me up. Hevesi won back the comptroller’s job, despite allegations he used state employees to chauffeur around his wife. It’s the hubris of power. So, guess who was standing behind him during his victory speech? Why, it was our own county executive Andy Spano, Westchester’s imperial leader who knows well the trappings of office—limo drivers, reserved golf tee times, etc.

OH YEAH: I need to point out a dumb error I made in today’s column about the nasty mailings that underscored the state office elections in Yonkers. I had Mike Spano and Shelley Mayer running in the wrong Assembly district. It’s the 93rd AD.