Brooklyn Losing Power in the U.S. House, but Strong in Senate

According to Congress.org's recently released 2008 Power Rankings for the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Brooklyn's Congressional delegation doesn't have as much weight to throw around as borough residents might think. Out of the nation's 435 members of the House, only one Brooklyn Congressman, Rep. Edolphus Towns, slips into the top 50 most powerful at #43 on the list. Despite his prominent placement, Towns is still likely disappointed by his Power Ranking. In 2007, he came in at #18 on the list.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, who comes in next at #63, also lost influence from last year according to Congress.org, which ranked him as #43 last year. As did Jerrold Nadler, who went from #128 in 2007 to #162 in 2008. Brooklyn's sole Republican member of the House, Vito Fossella, tumbled precipitously from #116 in the 2005 Power Rankings to #315 this year, though his decline reflects the fact that his party is now in the minority, rather than his performance. Fossella actually bettered his 2007 ranking of #365.

The only other member of the Brooklyn delegation to ascend the list was my congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who leapt to #96 from #180 last year.

Our borough's newest member of Congress, Rep. Yvette Clarke, who won her seat in 2006, almost doesn't register in the rankings. After premiering at #366 on the list last year, Clarke has fallen to #402, giving her the dubious distinction of the 5th LEAST influential Democrat in the House.

Despite our decline in the House, Brooklynites can console ourselves with our seniority in the U.S. Senate. Both New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton place in the Top 10 most powerful members, Chuck at #5 and Hillary at #9.

Brooklyn's Mysterious Superdelegates

With all the national talk about the role superdelegates will have in deciding who will be the Democratic nominee for President, you might just forget that our borough has its own fair share of these shadowy power brokers.

Brooklyn's superdelegates are Reps. Yvette Clarke, Anthony Weiner, Nydia Velazquez, Edolphus Towns, and Senator Chuck Schumer. Guess who they're all supporting?

If you answered Hillary Clinton, you're a winner. (And I guess Hillary is too!)

Brooklyn's superdelegates didn't exactly go out on a limb. Every superdelegate from New York who has pledged their support for a candidate so far has gone for our state's junior senator. The fact that Hillary has in her corner her colleagues from New York's congressional delegation is no surprise. After all, every superdelegate from Illinois, save the Mayor of DuQuoin, Illinois John Rednour, has already weighed in on Barack Obama's side.

It looks like Democrats will have a deadlocked National Convention to look forward to in August. Who knows? Maybe Brooklyn's superdelegates will end up tipping the nomination in Hillary's favor. We could be like Florida in 2000!

Squadron To Challenge Connor

In yesterday's Daily News, State Senator Martin Connor bemoaned the fact that once again he's not going to be running unopposed for his seat in the 25th District. Connor, who overcame Ken Diamondstone in the 2006 primary, thinks it a shame that he'll have to spend $300K-$400K defending his seat against a Democrat when he could be better allocating his war chest helping longtime incumbent Democrats like himself fend off Republican hopefuls.

Connor deserves commendation for his selfless party loyalty.

Though Diamondstone has not yet announced whether he will make another bid at defiling the democratic process by, well, participating in it, Connor already has a fresh upstart to contend with this time around. The obstinate candidate is Chuck Schumer protegee Daniel Squadron, a political neophyte whose claim to fame to date is co-authoring Senator Schumer's recent book Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class Majority One Family at a Time.

Squadron's going to have to win over middle class families to his candidacy at a slightly faster pace than his book aims to do if he wants to make any significant showing in the race, but he has already demonstrated that he has a legitimate following - at least among donors. The Carroll Gardens resident has banked more than $200,000 since November without accepting contributions from PACs, corporations, or lobbyists.

According to the News, Connor was quick to write off Squadron, who is 28. "It's nice that he wants to get involved. But he's a kid," said Connor, 62, author of no books.

The 29-year-old Brooklyn Optimist wonders if Squadron ends up with $400K instead of $200K in his ample coffers whether Connor will start him as an "infant".