Hell hath no fury like a first lady of New York scorned!
Michelle Paterson yesterday lashed out at President Obama for pushing Gov. Paterson not to run for election next year, particularly since the slight to the state’s first black governor came from the nation’s first black president.
“I never heard of a president asking a governor not to run, a sitting governor not to run, so I thought it was very unusual that this would be asked of David, and I don’t think this is right,” she told The Post during a luncheon hosted by columnist Cindy Adams.
“David is the first African-American governor in the state of New York and he’s being asked to get out of the race. It’s very unusual and it just seems very unfair,” Mrs. Paterson said.
Though subdued in her demeanor, she made it clear that she and her husband were shocked by the stunning message from the White House that Paterson’s got to go.
She said her husband was hurt to learn he did not have Obama’s support, and she did not spare the Democratic Party her wrath, saying she “most definitely” feels the party has abandoned the governor.
Mrs. Paterson declined to ascribe a reason to the cold shoulder, saying, “I never had a conversation with the president, so I can’t speculate on that.”
Obama last week sent his political director, Patrick Gaspard, to urge Paterson not to seek election, but the governor is defiantly insisting he will run regardless.
“I think [the governor] was stunned; like I said this is very unusual,” Mrs. Paterson said.
“We’re a year and two months away from the election and we just never heard of this before,” she added, characterizing the conversation she and her husband had Saturday, when he broke the news to her.
Obama’s message came after a series of mishaps from the state’s top executive, including a smear campaign that Paterson’s aides are believed to have started against Caroline Kennedy after Paterson decided not to nominate her to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate seat.
The governor’s poll numbers have consistently been shockingly low, and he recently angered the White House when he said on a talk-radio show that a racist media is out to get him and the president may be next.
Mrs. Paterson ended the interview by saying her husband’s successes in office have been muted by what she characterized as one negative story after another, and unlike so many of his critics, she feels he is not to blame.
“I don’t think that David’s message is getting out, for whatever reason, I don’t think the public is hearing what the governor is doing in the state and all the wonderful things that he is doing,” she said.
“I want people to know that David’s extremely smart, one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet. [He] has a lot of integrity and wants to do the right thing for this state.”