Dissecting dilemma facing the Dems

As Cayuga County's Democratic Party convenes tonight to nominate candidates for local elections this fall, they are faced with at least one dilemma - whom to nominate for mayor.

When party chair Katie Lacey canceled last week's long-planned meeting to nominate candidates, she made it clear that she was not supportive of the candidacy of current City Councilor David Dempsey, the sole official candidate in her party for mayor. Usually chairs are supportive of all candidates or, at worst, silent.

Lacey voiced publicly what many Democratic leaders have been saying behind the scenes for months: Dempsey will likely lose in a November matchup with Mayor Timothy C. Lattimore, a Republican. She rightly predicts that most of the focus in that race would be on their well publicized “Brawl at City Hall” and its aftermath, no matter how much each distances himself from it.