“He has to get back in control, and the only way he does it is by putting a staff together,” said a highly placed state Democratic leader. “If he doesn’t, it could result in a disaster in 2010, reversing all the gains of 2008.”

“He’s got a whole year,” the Democrat continued. “But he has to demonstrate something he hasn’t shown yet – that he can do the job.”

Many Albany veterans suspect that Mr. Smith and the Democrats will find some way to avoid reform now that they are in charge. Maybe. But for Senate Democrats, this is their first real test. If they can really change the culture in the Senate — not try to sell a few tweaks of the rules as reform — they might embarrass the Assembly to make its house more democratic as well.