Gov. David Paterson stops in Rochester for gubernatorial campaign
Gov. David Paterson, facing an anemic approval rating and embattled by recent rumors about his personal life, started his campaign for a full term on Saturday, telling a crowd of more than 200 people in Rochester that he was not going to let the special-interest culture of “delay, deny and destroy” stop him from running for office.
Speaking to a group of supporters at Laborers Local 435 on Fourth Street, Paterson highlighted some of his accomplishments over the past two years, including closing a colossal deficit and expanding welfare allocation and food stamp programs to help needy residents during the recession.
He also said that he was the victim of a character assassination by the media, a reference to rumors that had been swirling about his personal and professional life.
“I’m not going to quit because tabloid newspapers engaged in rumors, innuendos and lies against me, all the while the one newspaper that was writing the story knew it wasn’t true, and wouldn’t say it,” he said, an apparent reference to a story in The New York Times on Friday.
Paterson received his biggest ovation of the afternoon when he discussed the measures that other states had to take to battle the recession — cutting work weeks and school weeks, and taking loans from the federal government — and said that New York wasn’t forced to do any of these things.
“We’ve balanced budgets on time. We have fulfilled all our obligations to all creditors, we have paid all our obligations, our credit rating is strong. I’m black, I’m blind and I’m still alive; how much better do they want me to do?” he said as the crowd roared its approval.
On hand for the event were New York state Assembly members Susan John, D-Rochester, and David Gantt, D-Rochester, who both spoke to the crowd before Paterson took the podium. John said that she appreciated that Paterson had stood firm in his financial commitments to Rochester, despite the economic downturn.
Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, the chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, was not at the event, nor was Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy, though Duffy did issue a statement saying that he had great respect for Paterson and that he “had long-standing plans to be out of town” on Saturday.
Paterson, 55, who succeeded Eliot Spitzer in March 2008 after Spitzer resigned, started his campaign Saturday morning at Hofstra University in Long Island. He’s to finish the tour this morning in West Seneca, Erie County.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to challenge Paterson for the party’s nomination, though he has yet to make an announcement. Cuomo has a big edge in fundraising thus far and leads Paterson 55-23 percent among Democrats, according to the results of a Quinnipiac University poll conducted earlier this month.
The likely Republican candidate is former Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio. In a statement, Lazio said, “Since David Paterson became governor, the state has lurched from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis. We now face a massive structural budget deficit, skyrocketing taxes, and a people that have lost faith in their political leaders. Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson, and Andrew Cuomo are all part of this problem. The people want solutions.”
In a hypothetical election, the Quinnipiac poll gives Cuomo a 57-25 lead over Lazio, while Paterson and Lazio would be in a statistical dead heat, with Paterson at 39 percent and Lazio at 40 percent.
But Paterson’s supporters seemed optimistic on Saturday, calling him a “fighter” and saying that he was going to give Cuomo “a run for the money.”
“Even when it’s unpopular, he seems to want to do the right thing,” said Len Breedlove, 62, of Rochester, who brought his three grandchildren to the event. “I think eventually people will come to see that we’re in difficult times, and he’s doing what he thinks is right.”
SDOBBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com
Includes reporting by Gannett Albany Bureau chief Joseph Spector.
