“I have no plans to step down,” Gov. Paterson said at the end of his wacky week. He doesn’t have to have a plan, though, does he? A simple “I resign” should do the trick, and it seems as if it’ll be only days until we hear those words, now that his own criminal justice commissioner has stepped down as a rebuke to Paterson’s contact with a woman who had accused a crony of his of domestic violence.
After that news broke, even the ragged cohort of remaining Paterson pals (those scrappy few) started to whisper that he should pack his bags.
“Embattled?” No, Paterson’s more like the emperor in Act III of “Julius Caesar.” But unlike Caesar, he may not even make it to the Ides of March.
Asked what Paterson should do next, Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns “paused and sighed heavily,” according to a news report, before answering, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Towns’ words constituted pretty much the most robust statement of support for Paterson any reporter could dig up. You can almost hear Paterson, NJ, grumbling, “Dave, what have you done to our good name?”
So, what next? If Paterson steps down, his lieutenant governor, Richard Ravitch, takes over, but Andrew Cuomo can start printing his gubernatorial stationery. Cuomo probably would have beaten Paterson in this fall’s Democratic primary anyway, and if Rick Lazio is the only Republican Cuomo has to worry about in the general election in November, the attorney general won’t be losing much sleep.
Spitzer, Paterson, Ravich, Cuomo: That’ll be four governors in four years. Maybe Cuomo will turn out to be the savior of this state. He practically cut his teeth inside the puzzle palace, didn’t he? You have to be impressed by his resume: Wow, this guy was a top aide to the governor of New York when he was only 25!
But he sure seems an awful lot like just another party hack, a guy whose most notable accomplishment is using his 1990s fief of HUD to push people into taking on mortgages they couldn’t afford. Take away his last name, and Cuomo looks a lot like the next Mark Green. (I realize that’s a low blow.)
New York is practically a one-party state — but so was Massachusetts until Jan. 19. So is Illinois, where a Republican candidate is neck-and-neck with the Democratic nominee for President Obama’s old Senate seat. The voters are tiring of the complacency and corruption that comes with unchallenged rule.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Paterson appointee, has registered approval ratings as low as 24% this year and the image of her as a mediocrity is beginning to harden. Even Sen. Chuck Schumer managed to land below 50% approval in one recent poll, and his seat is as safe as any Democrat’s.
Empire State Republicans, what are you waiting for? You need to shake yourselves out of that funk (the one that carries a strong whiff of George Pataki) and find a Scott Brown to run for governor.
How about Steve Levy, the Suffolk County chief? Having served as a moderate Democrat shouldn’t particularly hurt him if he decides to switch to the GOP. On the other hand, he’s already taken a bashing from liberal news outlets because of his anti-illegal immigration stance. He’s popular on the Island, but when it comes to name recognition in the rest of the state, he makes Rick Lazio look like George Clooney.
Lazio, the former Long Island congressman, seems like a decent guy, but he didn’t much distinguish himself in his 2000 Senate run against Hillary Clinton, doesn’t have a whole lot of leadership or Albany experience, won’t be able to compete with Cuomo’s fundraising machine and is pushing a big idea — switching New York to a unicameral legislature — that sounds a little strange.
What’s depressing are that these are the only Republicans we’re even talking about. If voters are willing to punish Democrats in Massachusetts, New Jersey, possibly Illinois and (dare I mention it?) maybe even California, they are aching to show their displeasure with the Democratic machine in Albany.
Democrats have had enough — too many — chances to bring an end to the capital city follies.
Republicans can win the governor’s mansion in November if they can come up with a candidate who is moderate to liberal on social issues, has demonstrated leadership skills, who can win the votes of Democrats, who has a history of successfully fighting corruption, who is fiscally tough.
Rudy Giuliani has all of these qualities. All he lacks is the willingness to run, but if he’s thinking of resting up for another run for president, maybe he should discuss the idea with all of the delegates he won last time he ran for the White House. All one of them.
Of course, the ideal Republican candidate would also have something else in common with Scott Brown that worked very much to the newest senator’s advantage — being easy on the eyes.
Rudy, have you thought about a makeover?