A Fight for the Governor’s Mansion of New York

It seems that there is a fight brewing in the Democratic Party over who should run for Governor of New York in 2010. Yesterday the White House sent a letter to New York Governor David Paterson urging him to withdraw from the New York governor’s race. However Gov. David A. Paterson defiantly vowed to run for election next year despite the White House‘s urging that he withdraw from the New York governor’s race. Appearing tired and agitated at a parade in Harlem on Sunday, the governor told a crowd of reporters that he would not abandon his campaign to seek a full term. “I have said time and time again that I am running for governor next year,” he said at the 40th annual African-American Day Parade.

Mr. Paterson would not characterize what he was told by the White House, saying that he would not “discuss confidential conversations.” “I’m not talking about any specific conversations,” he said. “As I said, I am running for office.” President Obama had sent a request to Mr. 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. But Mr. Obama’s political team and other party leaders have grown increasingly worried that the governor’s unpopularity could drag down Democratic members of Congress in New York, as well as the Democratic-controlled Legislature, in next fall’s election. An aide to Mr. Meeks said the congressman could not be reached Saturday. “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.”

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. Leading Democrats in the state have expressed deep concern about Mr. Paterson’s ability to hold on to the office. But most have been wary of openly suggesting he step aside.

The White House move could give them cover to abandon Mr. Paterson and endorse another candidate, most likely Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who has been debating for months whether to take on Mr. Paterson in a primary. Mr. Paterson, who was elevated to governor from lieutenant governor in March 2008, in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation after a prostitution scandal, announced in October that he would seek a full term. But in the intervening months, White House officials have watched the deteriorating political fortunes of Mr. Paterson with growing alarm, as his popularity plunged and he committed a series of missteps that raised questions about his ability to govern.

In addition, the relationship between Mr. Obama and Mr. Paterson has been shaky, dating to the governor’s selection of a replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton, who resigned from the Senate to become secretary of state. White House officials had received assurances from Mr. Paterson that he would not pick Kirsten E. Gillibrand, then a little-known Democratic congresswoman from a heavily Republican district outside of Albany, according to a prominent Democrat who discussed the matter with a senior White House official. The White House and Democratic House leaders were concerned that her sudden departure from the House would give Republicans a prime opportunity to reclaim the seat. Aides to the president conveyed those concerns to the governor, according to Democrats who have discussed the matter with Mr. Obama’s aides.

In the end, Mr. Paterson selected Ms. Gillibrand anyway, infuriating White House officials and Democratic leaders in Washington. Making matters worse, the governor also publicly snubbed Caroline Kennedy, a close personal friend and ally of Mr. Obama’s, who announced in December her wish to be chosen as Mrs. Clinton’s replacement, but then withdrew her name from consideration in January, citing personal reasons. The concerns of Obama aides deepened last month, when the governor, speaking on a radio talk show in New York, suggested that criticism of him was racially motivated and that Mr. Obama would soon suffer similar attacks. Mr. Obama’s advisers, who have long sought to defuse the issue of race, found the comments inflammatory and expressed their displeasure directly to the Paterson camp.

The move by the White House will probably bring new attention to Mr. Cuomo, now the most popular Democratic figure in the state. While only 30 percent of voters in a Quinnipiac poll last month approved of the job that Mr. Paterson was doing, 74 percent approved of Mr. Cuomo’s job performance. The situation between Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Paterson has been a complicated one. Mr. Cuomo is still haunted by the fierce backlash he stirred in 2002 when he decided to run in the Democratic primary for governor against H. Carl McCall, the first serious black candidate for governor.

Now, Mr. Cuomo effectively has the blessing of the nation’s first black president to run against New York’s first black governor. That will probably neutralize any criticism he may face among the governor’s prominent black allies, including Representative Charles B. Rangel of Harlem, who warned this year that the party would become racially polarized if Mr. Cuomo took on Mr. Paterson.

Nonetheless President Obama flew into a political firestorm of his own making today, and while not addressing directly his desire to see Gov. David A. Paterson give up a 2010 run, left enough signals in his wake to continue fueling the controversy. Just two days after the White House leaked word that Obama has lost confidence in Paterson's ability to hold onto his job in next year's elections, the president flew to a community college here to outline his vision for the role of education in the nation's economic revival. But all eyes were fixed on the interplay between Obama and Paterson, who on Sunday defied the president and publicly said he is running in 2010.

Obama introduced Paterson — with barely a glance to where the governor was sitting — to the small, handpicked crowd as a "wonderful man, the governor of the great state of New York." But Obama quickly moved on to introduce Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat whose political ambitions soared over the weekend with what became almost an indirect endorsement by the White House of his desire to run for governor next year. Obama, while beaming toward Cuomo, who was just a few seats away from Paterson, introduced the attorney general by saying "your shy and retiring attorney general — is in the house." "Andrew's doing great work enforcing the laws that need to be enforced," Obama said.

The president flew into the Albany airport for the brief ride to Hudson Valley Community College. Greeting him at the airport was Paterson. The governor then got into a car nine cars behind the president's limousine in the motorcade. Aboard Air Force One, Robert Gibbs, the president's press secretary, said that "everybody understands the tough jobs that every elected official has right now in addressing many of the problems that we have, and I think people are aware of the tough situation that the governor of New York is in." But Gibbs added that a 2010 run by Paterson "is a decision that he's going to make."

Some Republicans were quick to jump onto the internal Democratic Party battle. Former Gov. George E. Pataki held a conference call with reporters this afternoon to say it is "wrong" that Obama has inserted himself into New York politics. Pataki is eyeing a potential run against U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. "I just feel it's wrong," Pataki said of the White House strategy to push Paterson out of the 2010 race. Noting the nation's economic troubles, Pataki said, "That's what the president should be focused on — and not focused on politics, particularly not even politics in Washington but at the state level."

Pataki added that it is inappropriate that the president base his considerations to try to nudge Paterson aside based on poll numbers. "The president should not be reading a poll and determine who should or should not be running for the governor of New York," he said. The White House is concerned about New York on a host of fronts. It fears a weak Paterson will hurt the ability of Democrats to hold onto Gillibrand's seat as well as congressional districts now held by Democrats. Democrats also rule in Albany, and as such, will control the redistricting process following the 2010 elections in which district lines for congressional and state legislative lines are drawn. A loss by Paterson, or the spillover effect if the Democrats lose their newfound control of the State Senate, would jeopardize that process, the White House fears.

Moreover, the national Democratic Party does not want to have to pay attention to New York, one of its base states, in 2010 when the president is expected to be focused on trying to keep Democratic congressional seats in other more marginal states. There is also speculation that Obama is concerned a weakened Paterson will encourage former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to run for governor, from which he could be positioned to run for president again against Obama in 2012.

The outgoing state Democratic Party chairwoman, June O'Neill, said the governor has been "dealt a lousy hand" by having to preside over fiscal problems not of his creation. Asked after the Obama event if Paterson should run again, she said, "I think the governor will do what the governor thinks is appropriate. He says he's running. We take him at his word and we support the governor."

In his speech, Obama talked briefly of the economic problems that have plagued upstate. He used the event to push a post-recession agenda that he says will be focused on the role of higher education, as well as new public money for research and development efforts and a reformed health care system. Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, who is a community college English professor, toured a facility at the Troy campus with Obama.

If words about the obvious topic were not directly spoken, body language played a heavy role. Before the president arrived in the room, Paterson, Cuomo and other state officials were left waiting for nearly a half hour. A sullen-looking Paterson arrived to polite applause. Cuomo, broadly smiling, was warmly greeted by politician after politician, one of whom, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, all but high-fived another Cuomo who wants to be governor.

While Paterson cooled his heels with the rest of the crowd awaiting the president, Cuomo was backstage with a few other politicians in a private reception with Obama. Cuomo then came into the room, accompanied by Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson of Brooklyn. He sat a couple seats down from Paterson. On his left was Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; Cuomo and Silver held several long whispering sessions during the president's speech. Therefore it is clear that the jockeying for 2010 has begun in New York and the Governor’s mansion is the top target in a state that has been democratically controlled for many years now.