Add New York Governor David Paterson - surely, no right-winger - to the list of critics of trying Khalid Sheikh Muhammad in Manhattan, and he adds an additional concern, that the expense and additional security will interfere with the endlessly-delayed plans to rebuild on the Ground Zero site:

“This is not a decision that I would have made. I think terrorism isn’t just attack, it’s anxiety and I think you feel the anxiety and frustration of New Yorkers who took the bullet for the rest of the country,” he said.

Paterson’s comments break with Democrats, who generally support the President’s decision.

“Our country was attacked on its own soil on September 11, 2001 and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack. Over 2,700 lives were lost,” he said. “It’s very painful. We’re still having trouble getting over it. We still have been unable to rebuild that site and having those terrorists so close to the attack is gonna be an encumbrance on all New Yorkers.”

H/T James Taranto, who wonders why we’re just hearing all this now if the White House warned Paterson six months ago.

With all of the delicacy, charm and raw political skill that they showed in trying to get Gov. David Paterson of NY to quit.

White House Is Taking a More Aggressive Role in State Races

WASHINGTON — The White House’s intervention in the race for New York governor is the latest evidence of how President Obama and his top advisers are taking an increasingly direct role in contests across the country, but their assertiveness has bruised some Democrats who suggest it could undercut Mr. Obama’s appeal with voters tired of partisan politics.

[snip]

More than anything, though, the interventions reflect a controlling style of this White House and of Mr. Emanuel, who employed similar hard-ball tactics to recruit candidates when he was running the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In addition to Mr. Emanuel, the White House political director, Patrick Gaspard, and deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, keep close watch on all political races.

Via @PatrickRuffini: bolding mine, and reflective of Erick Erickson’s recent first look at ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis’s Rolodex.  One may be forgiven for wondering whether… input on this was sought.

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They apparently started by making a quiet request that he drop out, and I’m going to guess that Paterson told them ‘no.’ So they leaked the news.

To repeat: so they leaked the news.

ALBANY - In a stunning request, the Obama administration has made it clear to poll-challenged Gov. Paterson that the White House would prefer he not seek election to a full four-year term next year.

The Obama administration sent the message through White House political affairs director Patrick Gaspard, who met with the governor at his campaign headquarters for nearly two hours last Monday, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation.

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Vice President Joe Biden is the sort of person who must be taken everywhere twice: the second time, to apologize*.

Gaffe-prone Vice President Joe Biden backtracked yesterday from comments he made at a Democratic fund-raiser in Manhattan that were widely viewed as an endorsement of Gov. Paterson’s re-election.

[snip]

Speaking of Paterson Monday night, the loose-lipped Biden said, “Your once and future governor of the state of New York has been extremely generous to Barack and me and has been a major part of us trying to put this economy back together.

The New York Post goes into more, possibly even loving, detail (including a greatest hits recap of his gaffes as VP: which is impressive, considering that it’s only June) - and why would they not be loving? Biden gives them copy every time he opens his mouth. Good copy, for them: for the rest of us, well, not so much. I’ve been spoiled by eight years of having a functional sort of person being placed in that spot: the new arrangement isn’t nearly as satisfactory. In fact, the idea of ever having to write “Joe Biden, President of the United States! Dear God!” fills me with existential dread. Which may have been a calculation.

Or, as Don Surber (H/T) put it: “Well, they said if I voted for Sarah Palin we would put an imbecile one heartbeat from the presidency. I did… and they were right!”

Moe Lane

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If the last month should have done anything, it should have caused NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to at least re-evaluate his decision not to challenge current Governor David Paterson for the job.  Since then, Paterson’s numbers have stayed awful: 19% from Marist, 28% from Quinnipac, 18% from Siena.  The consensus is that Giuliani beats Paterson; Cuomo beats Paterson; and that Cuomo beats Giuliani.  The situation for Paterson is in fact so bad that his own consituents would rather have their old governor back right now, and their old governor has a name for liking to choke prostitutes*.

And yet, Cuomo won’t run.

Governor David Paterson won’t get challenge from Andrew Cuomo

Primary fights are great for Democrats, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asserts.

And no, he insisted again Sunday, he has no plans to challenge Gov. Paterson.

Either Cuomo really doesn’t want the job, or he’s quietly worried about any Democrat’s chances in 2010.  Given the nature of the economy in general and New York’s in particular, there may be something to that last worry - and if so, it’s something to consider when trying to decide how doomed the Republican Party is in the Northeast.

Moe Lane

*Which is why he won’t be running again, rehabilitation dreams to the contrary.  The editorial cartoons draw themselves.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Worst possible news, in fact:

April 6, 2009 - Voters Say 3-1 Paterson Does Not Deserve Election, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Most Say He Should Announce Now He Won’t Run

New York State voters disapprove 60 - 28 percent of the job Gov. David Paterson is doing, the lowest approval ever for a New York Governor, and say 63 - 22 percent that he does not deserve to be elected to a full four-year term, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

With numbers like that, it’d take a special miracle from God to convince the man to run for election next year; more to the point, even if Paterson refuses to admit to the inevitable the rest of the NY Democratic Party won’t be quite so stubborn. Hence, the use of the word ‘depressing.’ I much prefer to see the Other Side engage in rather vicious primary battles. Like the one that may be happening with Gillibrand:

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New York state - under the leadership of Governor David Paterson - is getting ready to dramatically raise taxes on those earning greater than $250K. And faced with the threat that people earning this kind of money might move themselves or their businesses to lower-tax jurisdictions, liberals seem completely unconcerned. Indeed - if you take Rush Limbaugh as symbolic of the rest of these high-earners, they seem positively giddy. Jon Stewart takes the same tack as lots of compassionate liberals; he implies that Limbaugh is a homophobic, drug-addict with a taste for murder, and that New York is better off without him.

Governor Paterson is also eager for Rush Limbaugh to get out of town:

Rush Limbaugh is fed up with taxes in New York and with Gov. David A. Paterson in particular. The radio talk-show host denounced the so-called millionaires’ tax in the new state budget and then announced on the air this week that he would be packing up and leaving town…

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I would have bet the house against this:

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said despite recent polls showing him far ahead of Governor David Paterson in a gubernatorial primary, he wants to stay on as the state’s chief legal officer.

“I hope the people think that I’ve been delivering for them as attorney general,” he said Tuesday night at Schenectady County Community College. “I’ve been trying my best and my only plan is to run for re-election as attorney general…”

He did not answer directly a question as to whether he is ruling out a run for governor.

“I believe Governor David Paterson is going to run for re-election as governor,” Cuomo said. “I believe he’s going to be re-elected as governor.”

The most recent poll of the New York Governor’s race shows that David Paterson is toast if he runs for re-election next year. While Cuomo has been considered his most probable and most formidable primary opponent, other Democrats are rumored to be considering challenges. If one of them takes on Paterson and wins, Cuomo will find himself leapfrogged again, as he arguably was when Paterson became Governor.

So what gives?

Note that Cuomo refuses specifically to rule out a challenge. Perhaps he’s biding his time and playing the good soldier. When a primary challenge to Paterson materializes, Cuomo can argue that circumstances have changed and he now has to throw his hat in the ring. He could challenge a weakened Paterson - or perhaps even step in after Paterson determines that he can’t be re-elected. Playing the ‘good soldier’ now could help Cuomo down the road.

Of course, if he sticks with his decision not to run, the path may have gotten smoother for a Republican challenger.

New York is a deep blue state, with a populace that says the nation is on the right track, and which gives Barack Obama high marks. That should be the perfect setting for Democratic incumbents to cruise to re-election, right?

Not so much:

…If a Democratic primary for Governor were held today, [incumbent Dem Governor David] Paterson would lose to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by nearly four-to-one, and Paterson would be easily beaten in a general election by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani…

In a hypothetical 2010 Democratic primary for Governor, Cuomo leads Paterson 67-17 percent, up from last month?s 53-27 percent. In December Paterson led 49-26 percent. In a potential general election matchup, Giuliani beats Paterson 56-33 percent, up from 51-36 percent last month. Paterson led 51-38 percent in December. Cuomo leads Giuliani 51-41 percent, similar to last month?s 51-38 percent…

“New Yorkers, who give the President a 70-23 percent favorable rating, believe the country is headed on the right track, however, they say the Empire State is headed in the wrong direction,” Greenberg said…

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Good thing that he cleared that up:

AIG’s $100G donation to Democrats was unknown to Gov. Paterson, he says

Gov. Paterson stuck to his guns Saturday, insisting he knew nothing about a $100,000 donation from AIG to the state Democratic Party days before his office helped save the insurance giant.

State Republicans charged the Democrats with stonewalling an investigation into the Aug. 29 donation, uncovered last week by The Associated Press.

In the first week of September, Paterson launched negotiations to save the financially strapped company. GOP officials questioned whether there was a quid pro quo.

Otherwise suspicious individuals might ask whether September’s relief efforts were perhaps lubricated by such a transaction. Paterson’s intervention stopped the company’s financial free-fall back then, and it took place two weeks after AIG made a donation to the state Democratic party that was ten times higher than previous contributions. But Paterson, the Democrats, and AIG are all swearing that there was no quid pro quo. Or pay-for-play.

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