Sean Maloney

Ben notices an Orwellian purge from the campaign website of Sean Maloney.

Rudy Giuliani will hire more fund-raisers and key staffers in early primary states in an effort to prove he's really running.

Andrew Sullivan wonders if Barack Obama has a James Frey problem.

Sheldon Silver will be attending the February 11 event hosted by a social service organization that received $3.4 million in state funds over the last three years.

Jerry Skurnik remembers another time when a governor appointed a state senator from an opposing party to a cushy state job.

Craig Johnson is a having a fund-raiser with bloggers.

A Democratic lawmaker in Erie County is running for re-election after pleading guilty to tax fraud.

Did Jeanine Pirro's former secretary testify in front of a grand jury?

The Village Voice didn't hear much about Mayor Bloomberg's poverty plans in his state of the city speech yesterday.

DMI has a map showing that hospital closings in New York City tend to happen minority communities.

The Forward looks at how the mayor of Kiryas Joel helped elect Rep. John Hall.

A blogger turns to Billy Martin to explain why he's not getting linked more often.

And above is a commercial for Republican Maureen O'Connell featuring the wife of the Republican state senator whose departure to Spitzerland created the vacancy.

-- Azi Paybarah

Literature has dropped, ads have aired, and consultants have spun. Now it's time for predictions.

Who gets more votes: Eliot Spitzer or Hillary Clinton? Andrew Cuomo or Mark Green? John Spencer or KT McFarland? Jonathan Tasini, Tom Suozzi or Sean Maloney? Charlie King or write-in candidates?

Who wins in Brooklyn's 11th Congressional district? By how much? Who wins in Brooklyn's 10th Congressional district? By how much?

Which of the state legislative races will produce the most surprising result?

Does Suozzi win Nassau?

Where does Maloney get the most votes? Where does King get the most votes?

Does Tasini get through to Hillary when he calls to concede?

-- Azi Paybarah

On Friday night around 10 p.m., I found myself under the huge white tent next to the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, where a dedicated congregation sat through nearly three hours of political speeches from Andrew Cuomo, Sean Maloney, two of the candidates in the 10th congressional districts (paging Rep. Ed Towns!) and the four candidates in the 11th congressional district.

Speaking last on a night like that presented some obvious challenges. Thankfully, though, Chris Owens can carry a tune.

A clip of his Owens' musical contirbution to the evening's proceedings (at about the 1 minute mark) is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo stayed above the fray and towards the end, came off more relaxed than in previous appearances. Which is good, since he said he'll likely decline future debate invitations and instead, campaign at smaller forums across the state from now on.

Charlie King got more emotional than ever talking about his father's death from cancer. He even seemed to bury the hatchet with Cuomo, joking about his hairline and shaking hands with him before the debate ended.

Sean Maloney, who said Democrats have to talk about their passion and their belief, said he would defend every state law, despite his personal passion and beliefs. But he did have some great on-liners about literally, being between Cuomo and Mark Green.

Green seemed to say anything and everything to provoke Andrew Cuomo into an outburst. Towards the end, he seemed to have one himself when responding to a comment by Maloney.

Your observations?

-- Azi Paybarah