So this is a bit unkind: A sharp-eyed reader noticed that the final post on the campaign site of Sean Maloney -- "The End of the Beginning" -- has been, well, purged.

Version one, posted soon after the election and cached by Google gives top billing to some guy named Alan Hevesi:

"Democratic luminaries from around New York State showed up at campaign headquarters Tuesday night to celebrate Sean’s groundbreaking campaign for Attorney General, among them New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, State Senator Tom Duane.... Hevesi praised Sean’s first run for statewide office, characterizing it as passionate, smart and positive, and urged the crowd to continue their support of Sean in the next coming years.

In the current version, history is more...up to date: No Hevesi.

My reader, who checked this out pretty thoroughly, writes: "On the revised site Hevesi's solo picture has been removed but he remains in a background shot."

Which reminds me of the opening of a Milan Kundera novel in which all that's left of a purged communist official in an altered photo is his hat. Extra credit for anybody who can remind me which book.