Gov Paterson will not seek re-election

[House]

Gov. David Paterson pulls plug on election bid, but will not resign: insider

BY Kenneth Lovett
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Friday, February 26th 2010, 9:39 AM
Updated: Friday, February 26th 2010, 9:57 AM
Embattled Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday.

Paterson will announce the decision later Friday.

Paterson has been under fire for having contacted a woman who accused one of his top aides of domestic violence.

The source said the governor has agreed not to seek election, but he will not resign - opting to serve out the remainder of his term.

The decision clears the way for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is the favorite of many Democrats, to seek the nomination unimpeded.

Cuomo's office is investigating whether Paterson and the state police improperly contacted the woman, Sherr-una Booker, who made the allegations against his aide, David Johnson.

[House]

I was excited when he became the first black governor of NYS

Unfortunately, he has proved to be a bumbling, stumbling, incompetent. This latest incident was the nail in the coffin.

[House]

Paterson Gets Some Sobering Advice on His Political Future
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday night that as he weighed his political future, he was seeking counsel from elected officials across the state. But the first few hours of that listening effort offered some sobering advice.

A range of political allies and even some close friends urged Mr. Paterson privately and publicly to end his bid for election. They said his political standing had been irreparably damaged by revelations on Thursday that the State Police had contacted the woman pressing a domestic violence complaint against a close aide, and by the allegation that the governor had spoken with her a day before she was due back in court.

While no prominent Democrat called for Mr. Paterson to resign, several said it would be impossible for him to both govern and run a campaign while dealing with the allegations, which the governor has asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate. Other officials said that if an inquiry showed that Mr. Paterson tried to influence the woman’s decision not to continue the case, he should resign.

Those calling on Mr. Paterson to suspend his campaign included senior Democratic members of New York’s Congressional delegation, Albany lawmakers and black Democratic officials, including some from Harlem, generally considered Mr. Paterson’s political home base.

“I don’t think his campaign can go forward successfully — quite the opposite,” said State Senator Bill Perkins, a Democrat from Harlem who holds Mr. Paterson’s former seat. “This is a fatal blow, and it will probably only get worse. I just think that it’s clear that this is a storm he has to step away from.”

The calls for Mr. Paterson to end his campaign came less than week after he formally began it, with a defiant speech at Hofstra University in Hempstead in which he cast himself as an underdog who would fight for ordinary New Yorkers against Albany special interests.

Mr. Paterson has for months rebuffed pressure from within his own party to bow out of the race in favor of Mr. Cuomo, who is far ahead in polls and whom many Democrats wish to see head their party’s ticket in November.

And some Democrats close to the governor say he has grown more and more isolated from old friends and allies, angrily dismissing their advice that he reconsider his plans. But few prominent Democrats openly called on Mr. Paterson to abandon his campaign, not least because Mr. Cuomo has yet to formally declare himself a candidate.

That reticence all but evaporated on Thursday, after revelations that Mr. Paterson and members of his State Police security detail had spoken with the former companion of the governor’s aide David W. Johnson, after she pursued the domestic abuse complaint.

“This is a devastating blow to a campaign that had problems to begin with,” said State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Manhattan Democrat who is one of Mr. Paterson’s closest friends in Albany. “I don’t think there’s any way around that, and I think he knows that. I think everyone knows that.”

Mr. Paterson met Thursday evening in Manhattan with Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, to discuss his options, according to Mr. Jacobs, who declined to discuss the substance of the discussion.

Separately, some black Democratic officials and advocates met in Midtown Manhattan during the evening to discuss Mr. Paterson’s fate. The meeting was convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose support for the governor is viewed as essential to his political survival, and was attended by Malcolm A. Smith, the State Senate president pro tempore; John L. Sampson, the Democratic conference leader in the Senate; and H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller.

“It seems to me that there are three issues that he has to deal with,” Mr. McCall said in an interview before the meeting. “One, he’s got to govern. Two, he will have to manage a campaign. And three, he will have to deal with these allegations. It’s clear to me he can’t do all of these things. The question for all of us is, which of these things will he abandon?”

Mr. Paterson faced tougher criticism from those outside his circle of allies, especially from Democratic members of Congress who anticipate difficult campaigns of their own this fall and want a stronger candidate, like Mr. Cuomo, at the top of the ticket.

“There is a crisis of confidence in the governor’s leadership,” said Representative Tim Bishop, a Suffolk County Democrat, “and these latest allegations add fuel to the fire for the growing number of New Yorkers who do not believe this governor can lead our state through these difficult times.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/ny...26futures.html

[liL Ray]

He fucked up by calling that woman. What the hell was he thinking??

I don't know about you guys but I would vote for Spitzer again.

[JMJ]

He lacked vision......JMJ

[House]

He fucked up by calling that woman. What the hell was he thinking??

I don't know about you guys but I would vote for Spitzer again.

Gov Patersons thought process:

- Hire friend w checkered past as limo driver
- Appoint said friend to role as top aide and confidante
- Remain silent when said aide is accused of beating his girlfriend (all while the Hiram Monseratte case is going down)
- Intervene in legal process by calling girlfriend of said friend the day before family court hearing on alleged domestic abuse
- Announce run for governor on Sat
- Get busted for above actions on Tuesday
- Withdraw from governors race on Friday

dat boy smaht!

[liL Ray]

Gov Patersons thought process:

- Hire friend w checkered past as limo driver
- Appoint said friend to role as top aide and confidante
- Remain silent when said aide is accused of beating his girlfriend (all while the Hiram Monseratte case is going down)
- Intervene in legal process by calling girlfriend of said friend the day before family court hearing on alleged domestic abuse
- Announce run for governor on Sat
- Get busted for above actions on Tuesday
- Withdraw from governors race on Friday

dat boy smaht!

a true dumbass...

[Myron]

He was still acting like a State Senator instead of acting like a Governor.

[Leslie]

He fucked up by calling that woman. What the hell was he thinking??

I don't know about you guys but I would vote for Spitzer again.

Agreed - he continually shot himself in the foot (Patterson). A total tool!

Cuomo is in his glory right about now.

[House]

Agreed - he continually shot himself in the foot (Patterson). A total tool!

Cuomo is in his glory right about now.

Cuomo vs. Paterson

[RAS]

Gov Patersons thought process:

- Hire friend w checkered past ( including getting busted for selling cocaine, beating up on TWO other women, etc) as limo driver
- Appoint said friend to role as top aide and confidante making over 132K

fixed.

[Leslie]

Worse part is we all knew this was going to happen. His administration has been a shit show from Day 1!
No one will challenge Cuomo on the democratic side - although I think Weiner could give him a helluva run for his money if Weiner can raise enough money.

And now we have carpetbagger extraordinaire (where the hell is the dictionary button?! - TIMMY!!) - Harold Ford (disclaimer, I happen to know him and I don't give a fuck that's how I see it) sending out emails about how Paterson shouldn't run. Duh?!

[Armento]

here we go WEINER.. here we go

[Myron]

here we go WEINER.. here we go

Weiner is not running, although I will not be surprised if he runs for Mayor in 2013.

[liL Ray]

Cuomo is in his glory right about now.

he is looking like a genius right about now!

[House]

fixed.

"DAVID Johnson!!!!??????

I thought the application said Navin Johnson!

Damn these glasses!"

[Bill Blake]

Rember that leak a few weeks back that The Times was working on an artcle—rumor being he was sleeping around? And him getting all huffy about it? Turned out worse I guess.

[DeesKo]

Rember that leak a few weeks back that The Times was working on an artcle—rumor being he was sleeping around? And him getting all huffy about it? Turned out worse I guess.

Something about this whole deal just seems funny to me. There's been a lot of drawn out wrangling over this guy and it all comes to a head 2 days AFTER he announces he's running again?


Times threatens to publish a story but they hold out...

..and hold out...

..and hold out...

He announces he's running again (against the wishes of what seems like a good number of people) and two days later this story drops.

The cabinet member in charge of the state police claims they didn't contact this woman and then finds out afterwards when someone UNDER her decides to tell her they did (the same person who supposedly told her they didn't do anything) and instead of this guy getting canned for lying to his superior and engaging in such a bad situation, SHE resigns in a flurry with a statement you wouldn't really expect from a government official.

The Gov. claims this lady called him (how exactly does one just call the governor, does she have his cell phone or something?) and she claims he called her.....

....and even after straight out accusing the state police of meddling, her lawyer still won't disclose what the governor actually said or produce any proof of whom called whom, even though they're clearing IMPLYING he did something inappopriate.

Who dialed the number is an easy enough thing to prove should one really desire and at this point, this lady's personal integrity is at stake so I'm not sure why they wouldn't have already produced the proof of the governor calling her.....

Did Patterson do anything positive & controversial during his term that would have really pissed somebody off?

[liL Ray]

Did Patterson do anything positive & controversial during his term that would have really pissed somebody off?

No....yes...yes(can you say continually fucking with the biggest Union in the state, amongst others)

[mhd]

Something about this whole deal just seems funny to me. There's been a lot of drawn out wrangling over this guy and it all comes to a head 2 days AFTER he announces he's running again?


Times threatens to publish a story but they hold out...

..and hold out...

..and hold out...

He announces he's running again (against the wishes of what seems like a good number of people) and two days later this story drops.

The cabinet member in charge of the state police claims they didn't contact this woman and then finds out afterwards when someone UNDER her decides to tell her they did (the same person who supposedly told her they didn't do anything) and instead of this guy getting canned for lying to his superior and engaging in such a bad situation, SHE resigns in a flurry with a statement you wouldn't really expect from a government official.

The Gov. claims this lady called him (how exactly does one just call the governor, does she have his cell phone or something?) and she claims he called her.....

....and even after straight out accusing the state police of meddling, her lawyer still won't disclose what the governor actually said or produce any proof of whom called whom, even though they're clearing IMPLYING he did something inappopriate.

Who dialed the number is an easy enough thing to prove should one really desire and at this point, this lady's personal integrity is at stake so I'm not sure why they wouldn't have already produced the proof of the governor calling her.....

Did Patterson do anything positive & controversial during his term that would have really pissed somebody off?

there is no way to not make enemies in that position, but, for patterson, he was bound to ruffle feathers, tainted from the start, and quite a large independent streak, all bad qualities for a black leader

[House]

there is no way to not make enemies in that position, but, for patterson, he was bound to ruffle feathers, tainted from the start, and quite a large independent streak, all bad qualities for a black leader

not to mention his complete incompetence

[mhd]

not to mention his complete incompetence

was he elected?

[House]

was he elected?

elected to what?

[RAS]

was he elected?

To answer your question, NO. He was appointed after Spitzer was caught with his pants down (literally).

[mhd]

To answer your question, NO. He was appointed after Spitzer was caught with his pants down (literally).

you might want to check your facts:

After graduating from Hofstra Law School, Paterson worked in the District Attorney's office of Queens County, New York, and on the staff of Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins. In 1985, he was elected to the New York State Senate to a seat that was once held by his father, former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson. In 2003, he rose to the position of Senate Minority Leader. Paterson was selected as running mate by then-New York Attorney General and Democratic Party nominee Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election.[4] Spitzer and Paterson were elected in November 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, and Paterson took office as Lieutenant Governor on January 1, 2007.[5