Though there are a total of seven candidates for governor in the upcoming New York governor race, only two can be taken as serious candidates.

This was exemplified during the Oct. 18 gubernatorial debate at Long Island's Hofstra University. All the candidates appeared, and the vast majority came across as part of the far-out fringe - including the GOP's nominee.

"Crazy" Carl Paladino, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, anti-union - it might actually be easier to say anti-everything - appeared as the candidate of the Republican and Conservative Parties, backed by the tea party movement. Though he used less gay-bashing, hate-mongering vitriol than he's known for, he still offered a plan for this state that would slash education and Medicaid (which he continued to mix up with Medicare), as well as other essential services, all the while laying off workers and attacking the labor movement. His extreme right-wing policies show that the Republican Party itself, at least in this state, has become a far-right radical organizationA number of minor party candidates, including those of the Anti-Prohibition Party, Libertarian Party and the Green Party, appeared on the platform. Though they offered some entertainment value - especially Anti-Prohibition's "Manhattan Madam" Kirstin Davis, who suggested that one proposal would cause businesses to "leave this state faster than Carl Paladino at a gay bar" - they all offered either little substance or, in the case of the Libertarian candidate, policies even worse than those of Paladino.

Figuring out who to vote for in New York State this year is trickier than usual for those who want to advance labor rights, equality and democracy.

The state mirrors the national picture in many ways. Since the 2008 elections, the right has gone on a rampage, especially with the formation of the tea party, perhaps the most openly racist movement this country has seen in decades. It is at once sad and frightening, and, despite a relatively small base of support, it occupies much media coverage.

Against that, there have been significant victories under the new balance of forces that was ushered in with Obama's election, especially health care reform and the stimulus package of 2009 - but, economically and in most other ways, the country isn't out of the woods, and Obama and allied forces looking for a road forward are perpetually stymied. Every good initiative has run up against immediate obstruction by the minority Republican Party.

An angry mob showed up in lower Manhattan to protest the opening of an extremist Islamic center that aims to mock the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, and create an army of jihadists who'll wage a battle that will eventually, if successful, destroy the America.

Sound far-fetched? That's because it is.

The above statement is pure fabrication. Pure fabrication - with the exception of the angry mob. They actually did show up.

Egged on by right-wing talk radio and the rest of the tea party crowd, these people descended to protest a "mosque" they perceived to be too close to Ground Zero.

Reading the news, one could be forgiven for believing the false notion that there is too little money in the state of New York. The state budget - due on April 1 - still hasn't been passed, as Albany can't come to an agreement on how to plug the $5 billion deficit. Instead, the legislature has been passing a series of week-long budget extenders to keep the government running.

But while the effects of the crisis are real, the perceived lack of wealth is not.

A federal court struck down Gov. David Paterson's plan to furlough state workers and delay their pay raises, and now he is now calling for thousands of layoffs. Paterson openly questions whether or not an agreement made between labor and the state in 2009, which says that there would be no layoffs in return for big pension concessions from labor, is binding. Even if it can't be overridden, the governor is laying the groundwork for the layoffs to take place as soon as the agreement expires.

Reading New York City's tabloid press, one could easily get the impression that President Obama hates our city. This is not exaggeration; in fact, the sensational headline on the January 14 issue of the New York Post actually asked, "Why does Obama hate us?" The issue that has created such perceived animosity (and real animosity towards Obama from those on the right) is the plan by the Department of Justice to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Manhattan.

While there are some legitimate concerns, the vast majority of the controversy has been spearheaded by the extreme right wing, which is doing all that it can to try to weaken Obama, this time by attempting to make him look "soft" on terrorism.

It would be a mistake to classify Bloomberg's November 4 mayoral reelection win as anything but a defeat for the working people of New York City. At the same time, however, there is no reason to despair; on the contrary the election results represent a basis for optimism moving forward.

First, to dispense with the obvious: Although the billionaire representative of Wall Street, big developers and the Republican Party won, New York City elected John Liu comptroller, marking the first time in this city's more than 400 year history any Asian American has held citywide office. Further, a grand people's coalition formed around Liu: his campaign was composed essentially of the city's entire labor movement; the African American, Latino and Asian communities; women; youth; the LGBT community and a large percentage of white liberals.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing progressive changes to the city’s transit system. So progressive, in fact, that anyone who’s been living in a cave for the past eight years might think that Bloomberg could actually contribute to the wellbeing of the working people of New York City.

For instance, Bloomberg has recently noticed that the public transit system is “the lifeblood of our city.” He should know; he rides the 6 train to work (after being chauffeured from his mansion to a subway station by SUV, of course). Apparently, he’s come to the realization that the city’s lifeblood isn’t as plentiful as it should be. He’s released a whole 33-point program to fix transit for New Yorkers!

At 12:01 this morning, the law that enshrined mayoral control of New York City’s public schools formally sunset, as the New York State Senate remained paralyzed by crisis. The old Board of Education was automatically resurrected, as were 32 community school boards, whose members are to be elected.

Whether or not this will stand, or if the State Senate will come back to order and re-issue some form of mayor control remains to be seen. However, what we’ve seen so far is not good: Bloomberg is making sure to keep himself and his corporate-world school’s chancellor, Joel Klein, firmly in control, with as little in the way of checks and balances as possible.

It’s impossible not to be disgusted by the mess in Albany. The greed, opportunism and self-serving nature of some state senators is mind-numbingly unbelievable.

But here’s the thing: The operative word is “some.” Much of the mainstream press have been painting all the state senators with the same brush: They are, according to New York City’s tabloids, a bunch of lowlifes who have stayed out of work (i.e. the Senate has not been in session for a couple weeks), but who are still getting paid. They’ve directed rage at the senators in general, and, in doing so, deflected it from the real villains.