Photo: City Room/NYT

In a gesture rife with symbolism, Governor Paterson has shaved the mustache he began sporting only three weeks ago. As he embarks on his reelection mission with renewed vigor and determination, Paterson sheds not only the last vestiges of his formerly lustrous beard, but of his former self, and begins anew with a clean face — and a clean slate. The old, hirsute Paterson who was pushed around by the White House and underestimated by many Democrats in his own state is no more. From now on, those who stand in his way will be forced to reckon with a flagrantly bare upper lip ... if they dare. [City Room/NYT]