The defeat of Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato Tuesday was also a big defeat for controversial campaign strategist, Arthur Finkelstein, the reclusive D’Amato protege who has made one-note attack ad on “liberals” his specialty.

Similarly, Democratic Rep. Charles Schumer’s triumph over D’Amato heralds the rise of newer campaign guru, Hank Morris, a feisty strategist who specializes in helping Democratic centrists repulse the often disabling liberal label.

The death notice in the Buffalo News for Dr. Barnett Slepian last week advised that his funeral service would be limited to immediate family and friends.
Nearly 1,000 mourners came to the service in a Jewish chapel in a Buffalo suburb.
“It was packed,” says Rabbi Robert Eisen, in whose synagogue Slepian, 52, an obstetrician-gynecologist who performed abortions, worshiped last Friday night. The doctor was fatally shot in his home shortly after returning with his wife from services.