President Obama still wants Gov. Paterson dumped from the Democratic ticket, even though the field of GOP candidates for governor is weaker now that Rudy Giuliani is out of the race, a high-level source close to the White House told The Post.
Paterson told friends and associates in recent days — and even suggested on “Larry King Live” — that the announcement by Giuliani, who polls showed would have crushed Paterson, has led the president to reconsider the stunning September disclosure that he was opposed to the governor’s candidacy.
But the White House source, who has direct knowledge of the president’s views, insisted, “Nothing has changed.”
“Rin Tin Tin could beat Paterson,” said the source, a well-known figure in state and national Democratic circles.
“Paterson’s position is as bad as any incumbent governor anywhere in America.”
The source said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo “has to run,” and predicted he would be a strong candidate.
While the source wouldn’t say whether Obama would intervene even more aggressively to force Paterson out of the race, he suggested the governor might have no choice. “This has its own weight,” he said.
Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann said the governor wouldn’t be “commenting on any private conversations with the White House.”
Paterson, who became governor in March 2008, after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a hooker scandal, has been fighting record-low poll numbers, fund-raising problems and the state’s fiscal crisis.
He told associates just days ago that Obama opposed him only because the president feared Paterson would be crushed in a race with Giuliani.
“With Giuliani out of the race, there’s no more reason for the White House to oppose me,” Paterson told an associate.
On “Larry King” last month, Paterson said, in a reference to Giuliani, “Some of the circumstances [of Obama’s opposition] . . . don’t exist anymore.”
However, a second source familiar with White House political views said, “The governor thinks this is all about him when it’s not.
“Do you think [Sen.] Chuck Schumer and the Democratic members of Congress want to run with Paterson at the top of the ticket? . . . This isn’t just about the governor running for office. It’s about the entire Democratic ticket.”
With Carl Campanile and Maggie Haberman