07:35 AM Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Should WH Stay Out of Paterson's Way?
Date: Thursday, October 01, 2009, 5:18 am
By: Sean Yoes, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com
The awkward half-hug between President Barack Obama and embattled New York Governor David Paterson at Albany Airport in Troy, New York 10 days ago could be described a Rorschach test of sorts.
Depending on your perspective, either Obama was attempting to console the beleaguered governor whose approval ratings are hovering around 20 percent, or he was giving Paterson a very public kiss of death.
Late last month, it was leaked to the media that the White House had indirectly asked Paterson to drop what many within the Democratic Party characterize as his ill-fated bid for election to a full term as New York’s governor.
“Obama Requests That Paterson Drop Campaign,” was the headline in the New York Times on Sunday, Sept. 20, the day before the Troy photo-op.
Paterson seemed evasive when "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory asked him last week about the president’s alleged request.
“I’ve had confidential conversations with the White House, and I’m not going to reveal what those conversations were, other than to tell you that the president has never told me not to run for governor,” Paterson told Gregory.
“All right, but let’s be very clear here about what happened,” Gregory probed further. “The president’s team and others speaking on their behalf said to you, you should not run. Isn’t that right?
“I can’t say that, David,” Paterson replied. “There are people who’ve told me not to run. There are a lot of people … who have told me not to run.”
However, Paterson — some say defiantly — declared his intent to run for governor during his appearance at the 40th annual African American Day Parade in Harlem on Sept. 20th, a stance he reiterated during his interview with Gregory.
“David, the White House has a country to run, and I have a state to run. And there’s politics that go on all the time,” he told Gregory. “I’m blind, but I’m not oblivious.”
But several questions have arisen connected to Paterson’s predicament in New York. Ultimately, should President Obama have inserted himself at all into the New York governor’s race?
“President Obama is president of the United States and the head of the Democratic Party. He should provide guidance to important matters of the Democratic Party,” said Larry S. Gibson, professor of law at the University of Maryland and a veteran international political strategist.
“The governor of New York is extremely important. With the upcoming 2010 Census, there will be a reapportionment, and governors play a major role in reapportionment,” added Gibson, who was the architect of the strategies which made former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke the city’s first elected black mayor and Helen Johnson Sirleaf the first woman president of Liberia.
“Matters affecting the state of New York aren’t just local matters," he said. "They affect the entire country.”
However, others argue New York politics should be left to New Yorkers to decide.
“I had misgivings about him being involved with that,” said Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. “The indication is that Paterson may have a very difficult time being elected, but I thought the president should have stayed out of it."
"I think (Obama) wants to appease some folks … I think sometimes it’s best to say nothing at all,” Cheatham added, perhaps cryptically alluding to the issue of race, which is no stranger to New York politics in particular.
Patterson has suggested in the past that some of the criticism directed at him could be racially based, but he seemed to walk that sentiment back a bit during his interview with Gregory.
“What I think is that we should assess all governors, no matter what color they are, by how they .....
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I am not one who is not blinded by ones talents, based on so called polls. I still am not sure why Mr. Paterson should not run. He came into the postion, for a reason, God's decision, not because of polls. God does not make his decisions for our lives, based on polls either should we. Stop your obsession on polls, please.
by
Yaegerj
October 8, 2009, 9:26 am
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No one can save the US. We have been on a crash collision for a long time. Obama is providing ideas that should have been enforced long ago. State rights could use some revisions too. As many may not want to address. The laws of the state and behavior of leaders is causing the US to be absorbed. A new order is coming. It is necessary.
by
Elchar
October 2, 2009, 7:01 am
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Two mulattoes claiming to be black and shaking hands. Yep that's black politics. I'm surprised Tom Joyner wasn't there with his fa(m)ulatto)ily.
by
MikeCockrell9
October 1, 2009, 8:56 pm
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The intervention of Obama in New York politics on its surface seems like a violation of states rights and it also looks cheesey.
by
Navi12
October 1, 2009, 2:48 pm
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Regarding Obama and him not speaking out about the beating of the Chicago honor student, it may be a case where he dealt directly with the parent's of the child, and did not want press coverage.
My question is where are the press and concerned black leaders in the matter of Mitrice Richardson, the young black female who disappeared under suspicious circumstances after being released from the Sheriff's station in Malibu California. Just asking!
by
Qospades
October 1, 2009, 1:51 pm
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President Barack Obama greets New York Gov. David Paterson before speaking about the economy last Monday. (AP)
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