Albany's long-time Mayor Erastus Corning with Democratic Party Chairman Dan O'Connell (with hat), circa 1970.
This story is complicated, so bear with me.
I was just a 20 year-old college kid when I got my first real bloody nose – figurative and almost very literal – in the political world. Welcome to Albany, New York, my hometown (scenic aerial photo above), back in the days of the Democratic machine, party boss Daniel P. O’Connell, and mayor-for-life Erastus Corning.