Night after night, nomadic herds of Albany lobbyists can be seen wandering from one campaign fund-raiser to the next.

Dr. Brothers, the psychologist who has often appeared on television talk shows, hired an Albany lobbyist for help in getting the route off her land.

"I think they're just being realistic," shrugged one longtime Albany lobbyist.

In reality, your average Albany lobbyist will fight this one with every trick in the wallet.

In the last year, the state's four major chiropractic groups, which often clash with one another, spent more than $100,000 on Albany lobbyists.

The fight became so nasty and personal that the Mayor's own Albany lobbyists were referring to their "kamikaze mission."

And this is not taking place in a vacuum, but in an atmosphere complicated by Albany lobbyists representing voting machine manufacturers.

Several Albany lobbyists, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had no evidence that votes can be bought.

"You have real personality problems," said one Albany lobbyist with knowledge of the negotiations behind closed doors.

Negotiations on them are often enormously contentious, involving swarms of powerful Albany lobbyists.