New Yorkers owe a debt of gratitude to the chairman of the state’s Democratic party, Herman “Denny” Farrell, for clarifying so early on exactly where his party stands on taxes. Hint: Not on the side of the residents of a state paying the highest state and local taxes in the nation or on the side of New Yorkers concerned about slow job growth. In an exchange with a reporter for the Associated Press during a press conference, Mr. Farrell said that tax cuts would not be a priority for the Democrats or their presumptive gubernatorial candidate, Eliot Spitzer. “Jobs is the most important thing,” Mr. Farrell said. “If you create jobs, if you work to create jobs, and you make sure you do that, then you will get the income. Once you get the income, then you can afford to look at tax cuts.”

What’s odd here is that the Democrats don’t seem to understand the connection between tax cuts and growth in employment. Well, a quick glance beyond the state’s borders to the rest of America, where low-tax states are thriving and the national economy is going gangbusters in the wake of the Bush tax cuts, would have been a clue. Mr. Farrell quickly realized his blunder and tried to clarify his earlier comments, but even then he showed that he still doesn’t get it: “I misspoke this morning when I focused exclusively on the need to create and bring back jobs to New York in my discussion of our state’s priorities. While I agree that jobs are a main priority, I should have expanded my comment to say that making the economy more robust in general is our top priority – and that includes cutting taxes, as well as bringing jobs to New York.”

We like that “I misspoke” gambit. Maybe he picked up the lilt of it from Alan Hevesi. But he’s still got that stubborn conceptual split between tax cuts and job creation again. What a clear contrast with the Republicans, who have, in John Faso, a gubernatorial candidate who understands this thing down to the ground. Tax cuts and job growth are the same coin. Yet the day after Mr. Faso emerged as his party’s uncontested nominee, Mr. Farrell’s comments were the best the Democrats could do by way of an economic gauntlet to throw down. Which tells a lot about how this race is going to go between Eliot Spitzer whose party intends to raise taxes on New Yorkers as much as it can and John Faso who can be relied upon by New Yorkers to understand that the way to get job growth is to cut taxes.