While we remain optimistic that the state Senate is poised for major reform in the way power is distributed and legislation is crafted, it's hard to ignore the ugliness of the Democrats' internal fight over leadership.

At this point, Senate Dems remain publicly committed to Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith to be its top leader for the 2009 session, but reports from behind the scenes cast some doubt on whether that can happen.

And, judging from what's emerged so far, the state may be better off without Smith in charge.

Smith, who is still officially the minority leader for the Democrats because the Republicans retain control until the new year, has not demonstrated much leadership lately in terms of dealing with his colleagues.

First, he met with some dissident Democrats who were considering supporting the GOP and apparently struck a deal behind closed doors to give those dissidents some lucrative leadership posts and even keep gay marriage legislation off the Senate floor.

This action infuriated many of the other Democrats; Smith responded by reneging on the deal with the dissidents.

And, despite a long closed-door meeting Friday, there's not much new to report from there.

A true leader would be showing better diplomacy skills at bringing people within his own party together. A true leader would also be communicating much more frequently and effectively with the public.

The one thing that Smith has said that all New Yorkers should support is that he wants a Senate in which rank-and-file legislators are much more involved and in which leaders have less overall control. In other words, he supports a democratic process.

Our fear, though, is that this vision of a reformed Senate is just one more item that Smith would gladly give up in his struggle for the top post.

For the good of their future majority and the state, Dems might want to come up with a new leader who can rise above political games.