Governor Paterson is hoping that he has discovered the necessary glue required to put his tattered administration back together again with the announcement that his former right hand man, Charles O'Byrne, will return to his team in a volunteer role in preparation for the 2010 campaign. Just a few days ago Paterson had called the return of his former chief of staff "a fascinating idea." O'Byrne had resigned in the fall following revelations that he had failed to pay taxes for several years because he claimed that he was too depressed to do so.
Paterson said in a statement, "Charles is very much enjoying his new career and has offered to work as a volunteer in a leadership position with my 2010 campaign.” When asked just what new career in consulting was however, the governor's office could not say specifically, nor name any clients of O'Byrne's. The news of his rehiring comes on the heels of another resignation from within his administration Friday, Paterson's top communications strategist, Judith Smith.
The return of O'Byrne comes amidst a period that many have seen as a PR nightmare for the governor with a severe plunge in public approval for his job performance stemming from what seems to be a domino effect that began with the Caroline Kennedy-Senate fallout. The governor certainly could have used the assistance of his former confidante during the Kennedy ordeal as O'Byrne is a close friend of the Kennedys. He is a former Jesuit priest who was on the altar for the funeral of Jackie O.
Before the announcement of O'Byrne's reunion, Paterson had just made his first public admission that his office had in fact made some leaks about Kennedy in the final days of the Senate replacement process. After her camp had told the press that Kennedy had been all but assured the Senate spot, Paterson wanted aides to rebut that saying, “Let’s try to point out that we’re not indicating that anybody is the Number One.”
The governor seems baffled though on how that sentiment turned into the vicious slurs on Kennedy's character that seemed to snowball as news broke that she would be dropping out of contention. Paterson said, "The things said about Caroline I found despicable and shocking and very painful...How that turned into what happened is something I have to take responsibility for.”
