The former State Senate candidate recently had to abandon his third bid to unseat longtime incumbent Caesar Trunzo, more or less because it had become logistically impossible for him to win.

“The point was to beat Caesar Trunzo," he said with resignation. "And it just didn’t seem realistic.”

His trouble started when the establishment Democrats in the relatively conservative Suffolk County district balked at backing Dahroug, a progressive candidate who had already lost to Trunzo twice.

So in mid-May state party officials recruited Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian Foley to run, even though by that time Dahroug had activated his campaign, knocked on doors, and collected the endorsement of several progressive groups, including Democracy for America, the Washington D.C.-based organization founded by Howard Dean.

It takes institutional support to unseat a 30-year incumbent. And in June, the Working Families Party endorsed Foley.

By mid-August, Dahroug had decided to drop out of the race, and a few days later he endorsed Foley.

“If you run a dead body, you can get about two percent of the vote,” said Dahroug, who told me in an October 17 phone interview that in his senate district, “People just look for that Working Families Party line.”

He went on, "If I’m just running on the Democratic line, it would put me at an important disadvantage. Plus, if we pulled off the primary, Brian Foley is still on the third party line, without actively campaigning, he would pull significant votes away. To me, that was a critical factor. Having won the primary, it still would be almost impossible to win without that line. And with having spent everything that we raised on the primary, we would have to start all over again with just less than two months.”

Dahroug decided if that even if he won the Democratic primary, that one ballot line wasn't enough. “Having learned how difficult campaigning can be, both within your own party, and against an entrenched Republican incumbent, you get a sense of what’s possible and what’s likely,” said Dahroug.

To get a sense of how much the W.F.P. endorsement meant to Foley's campaign, consider the 2006 election. There are only 772 registered Working Family Party members in the 3rd Senatorial District, but the W.F.P. candidate got nearly twice that many votes in the 2006 election (1,345), even though the candidate, David Ochoa, had stopped running and was actively campaigning for Dahroug.

Trunzo has the endorsement of the Independence Party and the Conservative Party.

So where is Jimmy Dahroug going now?

Having formerly worked for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Dahroug could stay in government, but he probably won't.

“My family--they’d probably be a lot better off if I made more money. So, I think for now, I’m probably going to focus on doing something so I can be more financially solid,” he said. “Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone into the private sector.”

After we had spoken by phone, Dahroug emailed a few more thoughts.

“In some ways," he wrote. "I think the Bloombergs, Corzines, and Mark Warners (the self-financed) had it right. They became financially independent--they could self-finance and they didn’t have to play the same game. They are, as Corzine campaigned-- un-bossed, un-sought. The sad part is, obviously, we’re not all going to be extraordinarily wealthy. So the best we can do is work to reform the political system. That’s our generation’s challenge.”

Held at the downtown bar M1-5, the event's theme was "Unity '08," a reference, apparently, to bringing Democrats together (and not to the group that wanted Michael Bloomberg to run for president).

As the guests trickled in, DFNYC finance director Lewis Cohen decorated the bar with "Obama '08" signs.

"I have no doubt we will endorse," he told me.

"I think people are looking at the total candidate," said City Councilman Tony Avella, also a long-shot mayoral candidate. "He [Obama] stands for change, and we need change in the city.

"It has gotten really bad," he added. "Good legislation languishes in the Council forever."

The theme of Obama for change in City Hall ran throughout the evening.

"I've been for Obama for a year and a half," said Norman Siegel, an attorney making his third bid for public advocate, as Tom Petty played in the background. "I love his intellect, his vision, his idealism. But I disagree with his policies on Pfizer, capital punishment, and the Second Amendment. I'd love to sit down with him and discuss issues like civil liberties--but it's a no-brainier, you vote for Barack Obama."

City Councilman Eric Gioia, a well-funded candidate for public advocate, was less critical. "Every Democrat should do their part to support Barack Obama," he said. "When I think about '08, I think about my little girl, the air she breathes, her school, and her safety. We can't handle another four years of 'Bush-Lite.'"

Onstage, DFNYC spokeswoman Tracy Denton introduced Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America and brother of Howard.

"Yeah, we're gonna have to work our butts off to get Obama elected for president," he told the audience.

In the crowd I also spotted Luke Henry, a DFNYC-backed challenger to Sheldon Silver; State Senator John Sabini, who will shortly be starting as head of the state's Racing and Wagering Board; State Senate candidate Don Barber; Chris Owen, son of Major Owen; State Senate candidate Jimmy Dahroug; and a representative from Steve Harrison's campaign for the Congressional seat Vito Fossella is retiring from.

When it was Mark Green's turn onstage he turned to the audience and said, "Raise your hand if you organized for Hillary in the primary contest." About about 30 people--roughly two-thirds of the crowd--raised their hands.

"Raise your hand if you organized for Obama in the primary contest," he demanded, as about 20 people raised their hands, and someone hissed loudly. "Now," Green went on. "Who is not yet convinced to go all out for Barack Obama?"

The room was quiet.

"Gender matters, interest groups matter, but agenda matters more than anything," he said. "If you are not supportive of [DFNYC endorsing Obama], you are betraying Hillary Clinton and you are betraying all our history."