Suozzi Jumps the Shark

In calling for the ouster of Shelley Silver and Joe Bruno today, Nassau County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi has jumped the shark.

Let's consult the unofficial wikipedia definition:

"a metaphor that has been used by US TV critics and fans since the 1990s to denote the tipping point at which a TV series is deemed to have passed its peak. Once a show has "jumped the shark," fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm."

Kind of fits the bill, right? Suozzi clearly hit his peak in 2005 with his Fix Albany campaign that can be given some credit for the enactment of caps on county Medicaid spending (whether you think it's genuine and meritorious reform or not). And there were other high points:

• At roughly the same time, pressure from the Brennan Center and other groups led to implementation of a number of procedural reforms in the state legislature. Again, let's be generous and give Suozzi some credit.

• And Suozzi claims credit for helping Chuck Lavine win an Assembly seat and Dave Valesky a State Senate seat.
  

But since announcing his campaign for governor, Suozzi's ratings have slid. The shtick hasn't been working. And Suozzi has had to push the envelope to claim political relevance while trailing by roughly 60 points in some polls of Democratic primary voters.

And to this observer, today's comments by Suozzi are vaguely reminiscent of that moment late in the "Happy Days" series when Fonzie donned water skis to hurdle a shark.

The tv series was ultimately replaced by "Joanie Loves Chachi."

What would be Tom Suozzi's equivalent?