the cuddle muddle

The Patersons Get a Little Too Honest

“I did not sign up for this,” beleaguered New York governor David Paterson said at an luncheon yesterday, referring to his current job, but probably meaning everything that’s gone on in the past year. “I wanted to be lieutenant governor,” he continued. “I had this grand plan that Hillary Clinton was going to become president. Maybe the governor would appoint me to the Senate.” Of course, Paterson couldn’t have imagined that his former boss Eliot Spitzer would go down in a blaze of prostitution and scandal. But it’s rare to hear a politician speak so nakedly about his secret future plans. (Can you imagine? “Senator Paterson”? Fun!) According to the Post, he was only slightly less open when asked about Andrew Cuomo’s role in getting the White House to urge him not to run for governor next year. “I’m sure it didn’t bother him,” Paterson cracked. “You know, I don’t know of any tangible role that he may have played,” he continued. “A number of people connected to him certainly did that.” Columnist Fred Dicker spoke to sources who said pretty plainly that “the governor believes that Andrew’s friend Jennifer Cunningham went to [Obama political director Patrick] Gaspard, who went to Obama and convinced him to do this thing … He thinks this was all arranged by Andrew and that in the end President Obama fell for it.”

Meanwhile, Michelle Paterson, the First Lady of New York, also voiced her opinions yesterday. “I never heard of a president asking a governor not to run, a sitting governor not to run, so I thought it was very unusual that this would be asked of David, and I don’t think this is right,” she told columnist Cindy Adams, lashing back at Obama and appealing to his sense of racial identity. “David is the first African-American governor in the state of New York and he’s being asked to get out of the race. It’s very unusual and it just seems very unfair.”

Well, that seems like just about enough honesty for one day. Because soon enough, somebody’s just going to come out and say what they really thought about David Paterson’s new mustache, and really, sometimes it’s just nicer to lie.

Reluctant Governor Explains: ‘I Did Not Sign Up for This’ [NYT]
Gov wife to O: how dare you?! [NYP]
Andy’s tricks behind Bam nix [NYP]

The Patersons Get a Little Too Honest