Don’t Rule Out Paterson
New York Gov. David Paterson is planning to run for re-election in 2010, and conventional wisdom suggests he will lose. Polling shows him trailing a potential opponent from his own party by a more than 4-to-1 margin. If he gets the Democratic nomination, he could face a national Republican figure who leads him by 23 points. Even the president is telling him to not run.
Maybe it’s because I enjoy being a contrarian, but I’m not convinced Paterson can’t win. The mess that is New York State and Paterson’s potential to stand apart from the political establishment of both parties make his election no more unlikely than his shocking ascendance to the office.
Read all of John Zogby’s analysis about next year’s New York State Governor’s race at Forbes.com.
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Okay. I have waited until now. Unless you are from New York, you barely know who Paterson is. Or any other governor, except maybe “Ahnold”. Or some who have been mentioned as likely candidates in 2012. As we might guess from the recent elections, people from outside the state really don’t follow those local elections. Generally, I think we are most interested in who is going to effect the governance of the place we live. Unlike Congress, there is no majority ruling party in the world of governors. And remember, my state can be counted on to vote Democratic in local elections and Republican in presidential races.