A beleaguered Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday.What finally did it was the NY Times finally publishing their exposé on Paterson's alleged involvement in a domestic violence cover-up on behalf of an aide.
He will announce the decision later Friday.
Paterson been under fire for contacting a woman who accused one of his top aides of domestic violence.
The source said the governor has agreed not to seek election, but he will not resign - opting to serve out the remainder of his term.
Paterson has been a serious political liability for New York Democrats for nearly a year now, but he was forging ahead bitterly and defiantly on his campaign plans, threatening to unleash a race war if Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo (D) challenged him in the primary as expected. It's especially important that Paterson has finally backed down because Cuomo has to investigate him over the aforementioned scandal, and it would have been unseemly and weird to have one candidate investigating his opponent with the full force of the state behind him, except the executive.
Some of the coverage has been unfair to Paterson, my own included, but I think it's mostly warranted, and I'm very glad he'll be stepping aside. He'll still be in office, potentially tarnishing Democrats, but I think so far that can be overcome. And fortunately a court has upheld his appointment of New York state's first-ever replacement Lieutenant Governor last year, so if he does end up resigning, there's someone to take over for the remaining months of his term (remember Paterson's filling out Eliot Spitzer's term himself).
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