Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) isn’t going anywhere just yet, despite a report that the White House asked the unpopular governor not to run in 2010.
As The New York Observer reports today, Paterson said at an event at Columbia yesterday that “clearly, I’m running for reelection.” (Actually, technically he’s not running for reelection since he wasn’t elected as governor in the first place, but you get the idea.)
You don’t give up because people tell you what they think is going to happen. You don’t give up because people tell you who’s running and who’s not before they ever announce to do it. You don’t give up because you’re unpopular, when you feel you’ve made the right decisions and when people get a chance to look at what you’re up against and reflect on it.
So much for the nice, quiet stepping aside the White House was looking for.
According to the Observer, that was once a possibility. Paterson reportedly met with White House political director Patrick Gaspard way back on Sept. 14 and left “on a cordial, not confrontational, note,” the Observer reports, citing “one source familiar with the dynamics of the situation.”
Then the Governor got together with his advisers and everything changed. They pushed him to resist. And when word of the White House request leaked through The New York Times, well, now “clearly” Paterson is digging in. And according to him, running.
