Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), appearing on Meet the Press this morning, insisted in unequivocal language that he’s still running for governor next year, despite lousy poll numbers and White House urging that he step aside.
“I am running for governor in 2010,” Paterson said.
The governor, who took the state’s top job after Eliot Spitzer resigned in the wake of a prostitution scandal last year, also tried to parse what exactly the White House has and hasn’t asked of him.
Though The New York Times has reported that President Obama had sent a message to Paterson asking that he not run — a claim backed up by The New York Observer‘s reporting — Paterson said today that “the President has never told me not to run for Governor.”
This led to an odd exchange after David Gregory asked again whether the White House had told him he shouldn’t run:
Paterson: I can’t say that, David. There are people who’ve told me not to run. There are a lot of people who’ve told me not to run.
Gregory: But the White House specifically said, “Don’t run.”
Paterson: I don’t know that.
Gregory: You don’t know that? You certainly know you don’t have their support?
After responding that, “I’m blind but I’m not oblivious,” Paterson said that “I’ve never gotten an explicit indication authorized from the White House that I shouldn’t run.”
“They certainly sent a message that they have concerns,” Paterson finally conceded.
Not that it really seems to matter. “I’m running for governor,” Paterson insisted.
Late Update: Here’s the video.
