Apparently after last week's awkward embrace with President Obama, Governor Paterson has made it policy to keep his friends close and his potential political enemies closer. The two leading state Democrats crossed paths at a ballroom in Buffalo, where they were both giving speeches to a room full of their party mates. Cuomo was leaving as Paterson arrived. Reporters say after the two hugged, the attorney general slapped the governor on the back and said, “OK, buddy, go get ’em.”
Paterson tried to use his backed in the corner status into momentum as he spoke emphatically to Dems about his insistence on running next year, occasionally banging the podium with his fist. While of course he would never call out Cuomo, he did turn his attention to his other biggest potential threat in the 2010 race, Rudy Giuliani. Paterson said, “I think I can beat Mayor Giuliani. Mayor Giuliani said two weeks ago that we made reckless decisions with finances...If he thinks he could have done better, he should tell us that now.”
As for the Obama shunning that the governor was last seen throwing a transparent sheet over on Meet the Press, Paterson has apparently decided on a happy medium—that he can refer to what actually happened if he does it in comical metaphor. Paterson said, "I don’t think that any elephants or donkeys should be telling voters who to for vote for or how to vote for in the state of New York."
