Mr. Process

So, I asked Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, after the end of session today, were you the key player in blocking the governor's proposal to let grocery stores sell wine? No, he said, he was just one of the great majority of Assembly Democrats who didn't want to back the big-business groceries against the smaller liquor stores. The same dynamic was at play in the Assembly rejecting proposals that would have hurt small pharmacies, he said. So what were the key policies he personally advanced or opposed in the budget negotiations? Canestrari replied that he was more concerned with getting it done, with getting the budget passed tomorrow. "I'm a process guy," he said.
A couple of minutes later I ran into him again, as I exited the minority leader's office. The Republicans are in conference, I said, as Canestrari took off with an aide down the Million-Dollar Staircase. "What else do they have to do?" he replied.