Morgenthau might feel the heat

Is Manhattan ready for Leslie Crocker Snyder? The former prosecutor plans to challenge District Attorney Robert Morgenthau this year in the Democratic primary. Snyder's main argument? Morgenthau's dusty. He's 86 years old. Also, he spends a lot of money and attention on white-collar and terrorism-related crimes that are better handled by the Feds. This New Yorker article has a kicker of a close:

Now Morgenthau, who was born closer to the Presidency of Martin Van Buren than to that of George W. Bush, is looking ahead. “I have a lot of unfinished business here,” he said. Indeed, Morgenthau believes that he may go on even longer than another four-year term. As I was getting ready to leave his office, I asked him whether he would promise not to run for a tenth term in 2009, when he will be ninety years old. “Never say never,” Morgenthau said. “Wouldn’t want to be a lame duck.”