Update on Gov. David Paterson

Last month, I gave you my side on New York Governor Paterson's politics, so I thought it would be appropriate to give you an update. After his office handled the appointment of Hillary Clinton's Senate seat so poorly, Paterson's approval ratings have continued to plunder. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is more or less convinced to take another stab for the Governor seat partially because of all the mess Paterson is now in. In a recent Quinnipiac poll, Cuomo beat Paterson 55% to 23% in a primary match-up. In comparison to GOP opponent Rudy Guiliani, there was a dead tie of 43%, but Cuomo still won over Guiliani 51% to 37%.

At a press conference on Tuesday, when asked about plans for the future, Paterson contended that he still plans to run again in 2010 and blamed the low ratings on bad publicity in the media. Yes, Dave, I'm sure it has nothing to do with you and your administration's pitiful attempts to handle the budget deficit, exorbitant number of job cuts, and hypocritical misspending of government funds on Turkish rugs. 

After the appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, more and more information has leaked, adding increasing suspicion to the ethics of not only the appointment but the way in which Paterson acted to avoid backlash. This is to say that there was a last minute push by Chuck Schumer, which has been viewed as another Paterson attempt to spread the blame.  So far her achievements include alienating the majority of her New York colleagues on issues such as amnesty for illegal immigrants, gun-control, and presenting a balanced-budget amendment that, if left unchecked, could have bankrupted the state, according to a recent article in New York Magazine. 

Another enemy that Paterson and Gillibrand now share is Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. This is personal for her, too, because she fought to give Paterson a chance to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Boston back in 2004. Another issue raised is whether or not there will be an attempt to retain Gillibrand's seat in 2010, which we can only imagine will not be a strongly advocated issue. The Obama administration isn't a fan either, based on the humiliation that Paterson and his politics have put Caroline Kennedy through.

At this point it's pretty obvious that Paterson isn't going to have a change of heart and become any more human or willing to point an ear in the direction of the people of the state of New York, but maybe all of this outside pressure will make him at least change his course, even if only to preserve his image. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.