Bruno mum on re-election plans |
By Marc Humbert
Senior Writer
Noting that being in government “takes a toll,” State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was noncommital when asked how long he hopes to remain in the state Legislature.
“I am where I am today. Here I am with you, having this delightful conversation and we’ll see what life looks like,” Bruno, 79, answered cryptically when asked in an interview with NYSSBA’s On Board newspaper if he would run for re-election to the Senate seat he has held since 1976.
“You know what, I’m trying to get by today. And, if I get by today, I look forward to tomorrow,” he said. “I am doing what I’m doing because I feel challenged and we’re getting results. I’m not prejudging anything here. I am where I am today. I kind of live my life in the moment. People should live in the moment.”
A transcript of the interview appears in the May 26 issue of On Board.
“He has not officially announced he is running,” said Bruno spokeman John McArdle when asked for a clarification.
The last year has been a tough one for Bruno. For much of the time, he was at war with Gov. Eliot Spitzer over the disclosure of State Police records about the Senate leader’s use of state aircraft. The furor over the so-called Troopergate dissipated after Spitzer resigned in March amid investigation of his use of the services of a prostitute.
Bruno remains under federal investigation over private business dealings.
Also, Bruno’s wife and childhood sweetheart, Barbara “Bobbie” Bruno, died this spring.
In his state Capitol office, a fading photograph of Bobbie with a horse occupies a place of honor.
“She was 21 or 22,” Bruno said, looking at the photo. He said the horse with her was “the first horse I owned.”
Asked if he was still enjoying working in the Legislature, Bruno smiled briefly.
“It’s more fun than it was six months ago. I have better feelings about it,” he said. “But, I’ll tell you, being in government these days, it’s a pretty heavy burden, and it takes a toll too.”
The Senate leader said the battles with Spitzer were very tough.
“I think I’m one of the first people to say that he didn’t have the mentality to be a governor, to be a chief executive, and I was right,” Bruno said. “When he was a prosecutor, he could bring down a hammer and suppress and force, right? When you’re a chief executive you have to do it by compromise, especially when you have 212 legislators and you have to get the majorities to agree. That takes discussion, compromise, negotiation – not intimidation, not threats.”
The Troopergate experience was “a huge diversion” that “made it very difficult, almost impossible, to work with the governor.”
Bruno said what concerned him most was the use of State Police information in an attempt to discredit him.
“Frankly, if you want to talk about one of the greatest tragedies here in this state, it is that the power of the State Police, of the chief executive could be mobilized against any single individual,” he said. “To mobilize that kind of power? To do what? To ruin someone … That stuff belongs in third-world countries.”
Bruno has been leader of the Senate’s GOP majority since late 1994, but has seen the party’s advantage in the chamber slip to just two seats. Despite recent GOP losses, Bruno said he was confident Republicans would continue to control the Senate after this fall’s election.
“It is a given,” he said. He said the public wants checks and balances in government, not one-party control.