BRIC-TV

Ross Barkan, democrat for the State Senate.

The unity deal announced on Wednesday bringing members of the Independent Democratic Conference back into the main Democratic caucus will change the political landscape significantly. It could affect Cynthia Nixon’s ability to gain a foothold against Andrew Cuomo. It likely will make the uphill battle for the Democrats challenging IDC members even steeper.

But it certainly won’t tie up every election 2018 storyline with a neat bow. Democrat Ross Barkan, whom I interviewed on the BRIC-TV daily news and culture show 112BK that aired today, is still challenging Martin Golden, who is still the Republican incumbent in the 22nd Senate district; Andrew Gounardes is still the other Democrat in the race. And the questions that political journalist Dave Colon asked when we talked on Tuesday are still relevant despite Wednesday’s news: What was the real reason the IDC came to be? What was the cost or gain of its having existed?

Watch the conversations below.