Rescuers of US Airways Flight 1549 stand out

If the dazzling rescue of all 155 aboard US Airways Flight 1549 had any political meaning, it was this: Ordinary citizens acting with skill, courage, training, experience, and a little luck will always mean more than someone in the elected class yakking about leadership and crisis management.

Sure, Gov. David A. Paterson's declaration of "a miracle on the Hudson" and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's crisp presentation of the facts afterward were totally fitting. And nobody argues with Sen. Charles Schumer's symbolic resolution introduced the next day hailing the captain, crew and first-responders. But this drama had a shockingly happy ending because people from pilot Chesley Sullenberger III ("Sully for Senate!" some cheered) to the New York Waterway employees and city emergency responders used their best judgment.

LAZARUS LAZIO?: In 2000, Long Island Republican Rep. Rick Lazio backed off running for U.S. Senate to support then Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But when the GOP mayor was diagnosed with cancer and dropped out, Lazio became nominee and lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lazio allies later claimed if he'd started early he could have won. Now that Lazio - long out of Congress and employed by JP Morgan Chase - floats his name for governor in 2010, he may be way less likely to yield to Giuliani again. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) said Friday, "I spoke to Rick last week and he told me he was definitely thinking of it ... I've spoken to Giuliani and he told me the same thing."

CONGRESS CACHE: The campaign of Rep. Steve Israel, Lazio's Democratic successor now seeking Paterson's nod for U.S. Senate, has $1.7 million on hand that could go to a 2010 special. He raised some $485,000 in December.

EROSION UPDATE: The 30-member state Senate GOP minority headed by Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) faces further erosion. Several retirements by GOP veterans are possible, and enrollment trends are turning some districts Democratic. If Democrats keep the house, they'll control redistricting. They then could, for example, shore up new Suffolk Sen. Brian Foley's likely voters in the 3rd S.D. by shifting borders north toward Port Jefferson and Stony Brook ... Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) is said to court Republican Sen. Jim Alesi of Monroe County, possibly with the chairmanship of a standing committee. Quietly, several Republicans question Skelos' choice of district fights - which last time included futile pushes against Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck).

TOUSSIE TOSSUP: Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat looking to challenge Bloomberg, said weeks ago he'd decide whether to return $4,950 each in campaign contributions from Robert and Laura Toussie, parents of pardoned-then-not-pardoned real estate scammer Isaac Toussie. "No update as of yet," Weiner spokesman John Collins said Friday.