First, I have to link Dan Jacoby's latest post from Daily Gotham.  I had the same idea without seeing his piece, but since he posted his first, he deserves the hat tip. http://dailygotham.com/blog/dan_jacoby/behind_the_three_amigos.

I think the sign of a true political junkie is when the Machiavellian machinations and conspiracy theories end up consuming your mind at all times of the day.  This morning, for no reason at all, I kept thinking out scenarios in which the Dems could keep the Senate and bring the Gang of Three into the fold.  The most obvious answer was Jeff Klein because of the Bronx connections with Espada and Diaz.  That led me to the same conclusion Dan Jacoby reaches in his post.  It's too much of a coincidence that the one person who everyone knows is hungry for the Senate Majority spot is from the same borough as two of the dissidents and has the most to gain from the entire thing.

Throw in the fact that it seems like there's going to be a special election for Boro Prez in the Bronx coming soon with Adolfo Carrion possibly going to D.C., and I wouldn't doubt that the real deal is Klein for Majority Leader in exchange for Diaz Jr. support for Boro Prez.  Think about it, Klein becomes one of the most powerful Dems in the state and Rubencito gets exactly what he's wanted for the last couple of years.  And really, if the Senate Majority Leader tells the party that he wants to support a candidate for Boro Prez in his backyard, do you really think Carl Heastie is going to stop him?

The whole thing is almost too diabolical.  Think about this.  Back when Espada won his seat, Klein would have had to began to conspire with Kruger, Diaz, Espada and Monserrate to sabotage Malcolm's chances to become Majority Leader by refusing to join the Democratic caucus. Things were going according to plan, when suddenly, Smith demonstrated that he had no backbone and was willing to give up whatever the remaining members wanted in order to bring them in.  At the Dem caucus to sell the meeting, Klein is the most outspoken member, extremely upset that Smith would concede to these backstabbers without first consulting it with the rest of the caucus.  This now puts Malcolm in the unenviable position is losing the support of his entire caucus as well as that of the rebels.  Coincidentally (as everything has been so far), today, Espada tells Fred "The Rat" Dicker that he would be willing to work with Jeff Klein as Majority Leader, thus setting up the next scene in this soap opera where the Dem caucus removes Malcolm, installs Klein and Klein, with the blessing of the caucus, then gives the rebels what they really want (Espada- Deputy ML+LuLu, Diaz-Rubencito BP, Kruger-Finance.

So what happens to Malcolm?  Deposed legislative leaders do not usually stick around to stay in the caucus (with the exception of Marty Connor), so my guess is that he gets appointed to head some type of executive agency where he can make $100K+ and ride out the rest of his public service life in relative anonymity.

Or, of course, everything could just be a coincidence.