Don’t Forget Deval!
The President of the United States pokes his nose into New York politics, urges Gov. David Paterson to back out of the race due to his dismal poll numbers. NYT:
WASHINGTON — President Obama has sent a request to Gov. David A. Paterson that he withdraw from the New York governor’s race, fearing that Mr. Paterson cannot recover from his dismal political standing, according to two senior administration officials and a New York Democratic operative with direct knowledge of the situation.
The decision to ask Mr. Paterson to step aside was proposed by political advisers to Mr. Obama, but approved by the president himself, one of the administration officials said.
“Is there concern about the situation in New York? Absolutely,” the second administration official said Saturday evening. “Has that concern been conveyed to the governor? Yes.”
The administration officials and the Democratic operative spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions with the governor were intended to be confidential.
The president’s request was conveyed to the Mr. Paterson by Representative Gregory W. Meeks, a Queens Democrat, who has developed a strong relationship with the Obama administration, they said.
The move against a sitting Democratic governor represents an extraordinary intervention into a state political race by the president, and is a delicate one, given that Mr. Paterson is one of only two African-American governors in the nation.
Hey Obama, as long as you’re meddling in state politics to undermine black governors, you might want to consider throwing Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick under the same bus. He’s way down in the polls, too!
By the way, Mr. President, congratulations on the state politics-meddling re Ted Kennedy’s deathbed wish to reverse his 2004 request for a Massachusetts law that would have barred then-Gov. Mitt Romney from appointing a replacement to John Kerry in the event he … snort … excuse me … got elected president. With last week’s 95-58 vote in the Massachusetts House, it’s looking good.
The President of the United States and others who do not reside in Massachusetts, such Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have been meddling in local politics because they are worried that despite dominating House, Senate and White House, their health-care thing is going down the drain. They need every vote they can get.
Meanwhile, back to the New York meddling, Paterson isn’t going quietly.
“The message the White House wanted to send — that it wants Paterson to step aside — was delivered,” said the Democratic operative,, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were intended to be confidential. “He is resistant.”
NYT kind of buries, 11 graphs down, the cause of the president’s concern.
The general election is more than a year away, but Mr. Obama and his political team are moving now in part because of signals from Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, that he may run for governor, according to Democrats who have spoken with White House officials. Many Democratic leaders believe that Mr. Giuliani’s presence at the top of the Republican ticket could spark enthusiasm among his party’s voters, who might otherwise have little desire to go to the polls.
HotAir: Smooth move, Obama.
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Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:12 am Comments (3) on Sunday, September 20, 2009
3 Responses to “Don’t Forget Deval!”
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September 20th, 2009 at 11:28 am
[...] Jules Crittendnn provides a suggestion to Obama, as long as you are interfering in state politics why don’t you ask Massachusetts governor Patrick Duval to the list as his poll numbers are dismal as well. Share This [...]
September 20th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
What happened to the slickest politician since JFK? He can’t get anything done without putting both feet in his mouth.
September 20th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
[...] Don’t Forget Deval! [...]