In-fighting hurts New York Democrats
NEW YORK: In a year in which Republicans look likely to make sweeping gains in congressional and governors' elections, New York Democrats are more concerned with fighting each other.
The national party has already suffered a stunning loss of the late Ted Kennedy's US Senate seat in Massachusetts and a string of prominent retirements. But many Democrats in New York believe that one of their sitting senators and the incumbent governor are too weak to survive.
Governor David Paterson and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand both face voters in the traditionally liberal state for the first time in their current jobs. Paterson became governor in 2008 after Eliot Spitzer quit amid a prostitution scandal and Gillibrand was named as replacement for Hillary Clinton who became US Secretary of State last year.
