A bitter and defiant Gov. Paterson is claiming that President Obama’s attempted political hit job has only given him “renewed vigor” to seek a full term next year, The Post has learned.
Paterson made the astonishing claim during a small and somber fund-raising event with about 60 contributors in Manhattan — just hours after being repeatedly dissed by Obama during a presidential visit Monday to a community college in Troy, a witness said.
Yesterday, the governor also appeared to point some of the finger of blame for his political problems at Obama and the fierce partisanship gripping Washington.
The president and his aides “haven’t exactly been able to govern in the first year of their administration in the way that other administrations have, where you would have, theoretically, a period in which the new administration is allowed to pass the needed pieces of legislation,” Paterson said.
At the Monday night fund-raiser, Paterson said he would not be deterred by claims by Obama and his aides that his awful approval ratings could cost Democrats the governor’s seat and other high offices next year.
“He referenced the incident [the Obama attacks],” Dr. Henry Jarecki, who was at the event, told The Post. “He spoke of having a renewed vigor to run.”
Richard Ravitch, the former MTA chairman and the governor’s controversial appointee as lieutenant governor, denounced Obama at the fund-raiser for attempting to get Paterson out of the race.
Paterson, described by friends as “bitter” and “confrontational,” continued the defiant theme yesterday as he publicly insisted, “clearly, I’m running for re-election,” although he was never elected to the job.
Paterson’s comments came as another public opinion poll showed him with record-low approval ratings as well as easy prey to either Attorney General Andrew Cuomo or former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The Siena College poll found just 18 percent of voters with a positive view of Paterson, while 80 percent were negative, down from a 23 percent to 76 percent positive/negative rating last month.
Cuomo would defeat Paterson in a Democratic primary, 66 percent to 20 percent, while Giuliani would defeat the governor in a general election, 52 percent to 35 percent, according to the poll.
The poll also found that in a Cuomo-Giuliani matchup, the attorney general would be victorious, 52 percent to 39 percent.