Paterson Exits Race; And What Will Cuomo Do?
Tags: Andrew Cuomo, David Paterson, democratic party, scandal, scandals, unethical behavior
I suspected a while back that something was gonna take Paterson out of the race. I suspect, given the circumstances, that the Democratic Party is somehow involved in forcing his move this week.
A scandal-scarred Gov. Paterson Friday pulled the plug on his short-lived election bid – but calls for his resignation continued to mount.
Paterson, who’s under investigation for contacting a woman who accused one of his top aides of attacking her, laid out his plans at his Manhattan office with wife, Michelle, by his side.
He said he would serve out his term without the distraction of a campaign.
He also stressed his achievements – and passionately defended his integrity.
“There are times in politics when you have to know not to strive for service, but to step back – and that moment has come for me,” Paterson said.
“It has become increasingly clear to me in the last few days that I cannot run for office and try to manage the state’s business at the same time.”
Troubling as the allegations are, I think this also raises questions about Andrew Cuomo and his role in the whole affair. Think about it… Given the fact that campaigns these days start a lot earlier, if Cuomo was running, one would think he’d have gotten in by now, officially anyways.. but he hasn’t. Meanwhile, with his office investigating, one can’t help wondering whether Cuomo has just been biding his time waiting for this or other potential scandals involving Paterson to be brought to light. All the while, Cuoma avoids the costs and efforts of cunning a campaign and being in a primary.
Who knows? But the real question is do people really think that given the illegal and unethical behavior in Albany that Cuomo is the guy to clean things up? What’s his record? Consider me unconvinced.
Cuomo may have delayed his entry into the campaign to avoid accusations of conflict of interest, but it seems to me if it was his plan to run, the conflict of interest is there already.
Well, it’ll be interesting to see when/if he announces… I think the timing could raise a lot of questions.
Matt Margolis is co-author (with Mark Noonan) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at Blogs For Victory. Follow Matt on Twitter.
The fix is in…
Giuliani read the writing on the wall.