By Dee Richard
On Tuesday morning, as previously mentioned, Democratic state Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin held a press conference in his Flushing district office. The purpose of the conference was to explain why he had decided not to run again for his assembly seat.He said that he felt he could better serve his constituents by concentrating on his role as a labor leader. He felt he could ensure more jobs, more benefits, and so forth, for the working men and women of Queens as well as the rest of the city and that achieving his union goals would become increasingly more time-consuming. He said that he thought he should serve out the term to which he was elected. He said that doing the right thing in that respect would give all the contenders for the position almost a full nine months to get ready to run. Even in an open-seat race, there is much work to do. In fact, in running a campaign, the work seems endless.So far the opportunity has seemed to spark the interest of Tony Avella, John Dorsa, Rory Lanceman and Morshed Alam. Bear in mind, however, that very often some of the early frontrunners drop out and you get some “Johnny come latelys” tossing their hats into the ring after they have time to assess the competition and evaluate their chance of winning. In the final analysis, it inevitably boils down to a primary, and that winner must run against the nominees of any and all other parties interested in attaining that particular seat. It's much too early in the game to even comment, let alone predict the outcome. As of this moment we don't know all the players, or how serious they are, and what the odds are in contemplating a run. Happy Birthday to Cassie, Brian and Eva McLaughlin's beautiful young daughter who will be 21 this week. Wouldn't you like to be 21 again? Or would you? Cassie has recently joined her dad's staff to help out wherever needed and presumably to learn the political process.On Thursday the New American (small d), democratic Club held its holiday party at Eastern Nights, an Egyptian restaurant on Steinway Street in Astoria, one of the few locations providing a hookah lounge. Other countries' customs are usually quite fascinating. In reality, the New American (Small d), democratic Club encourages members of all political parties to join. State Sen. Frank Padavan, Moustfa Elsheik and Nayibe Nunez-Berger were some of the Republicans present; Jerry Everett and Molly Holingsfeld were there for the Independence Party, and Eric Goia, Mark Weprin, Chet Szarejko and Morshed Alam held the (large D), Democratic end up. Bear in mind that some of the aforementioned were guests and not necessarily members of the club. The overwhelming majority of the attendees were either Democrats or undecideds who have not yet committed to registering in a particular party. The group as a whole seems very ambitious and appeared to be getting well organized.Saturday morning the Whitestone Republican Club held a breakfast at the Reception House in Flushing. Their guest speaker was Jeanine Pirro, who is running for New York state attorney general. She seems to be an excellent choice for the Republican Party, as Pirro has a 30-year history as a judge and a prosecutor. Pirro served for many years quite successfully as the Westchester County district attorney. Most impressive credentials to bring to the table. As an amusing sidebar, during Pirro's speech a man's cell phone went off, whereupon he ran out into the lobby to receive the call. His wife immediately apologized for the interruption. Pirro, without missing a beat, quipped back with “That's OK! We women are not responsible for what our husbands do! So no apology is necessary.” Touche, Jeanne.Do not be deceived by the outer image of a most attractive feminine woman, as there is definitely an iron lady below the surface.This is only the middle of January and we already have a lot of interesting races to contemplate. There is never a dull moment in the world of politics. We wish all the candidates without exception good luck in their respective cases.That's it for this week; we look forward to receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, your faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com Don't forget to check out the photos on the “Focus on Queens” page. Till next week, Dee
