All aboard?

The Saratoga Springs Democratic Party tried to get itself on track for a second consecutive sweep of city offices with a fundraiser at the Saratoga Springs Train Station last night. And while this locomotive has at least two drivers with conflicting plans, on Thursday night, with a live band playing, art hanging from the walls and ceiling, hors d'oeuvres and politicians and supporters actively socializing, to the untrained eye this might have been a unified party.
All seven city candidates - Mayor Valerie Keehn, Finance Commissioner hopeful Jane Weihe, Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim, Accounts Commissioner John Franck, Public Works Commissioner Tom McTygue and Supervisors Cheryl Keyrouze and Joanne Yepsen - were in attendence for at least 45 minutes. All offered brief comments, as did county chairman Larry Bulman, city chairman Lou Schneider, and Mike Russo from Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand's office, and former mayor Ken Klotz, with a wooden train whistle to get the crowd's attention.
"A unified slate is the way to go," said Weihe.
The split widened over two years in office shows no sign of really closing, though, whether the council members say they support each other or not. Kim stormed out of a council meeting just two nights earlier, decrying delay tactics by his fellow commissioners. Sharon Boyd, the city chairwoman until earlier this year and the wife of Gordon Boyd, who lost a primary to Keehn and is running as the head of the Independence Party slate (which would have coincided 100 percent with the Dems had Boyd won), was at the party, a reminder of the contest. How many homes have signs up for both Keehn and McTygue? How many for Keehn and Republican Skip Scirocco? How many for McTygue and Republican Scott Johnson?
We'll see if the party gathers all together on election night, as they did the joyous night of their 2005 sweep into power at the Inn at Saratoga. Only time will tell whether the inner-party battles so evident at City Council meetings will derail the party from further success and return the Republicans to power.