If Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) resigns, Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson (also a Clinton supporter), will take his place. If he, for some reason, decides not to accept the promotion, the president of the state senate pro tempore, who also happens to be the majority leader, Joseph Bruno, will become governor. He is, of course, Spitzer's arch-enemy.
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Succession In New York State
10 Mar 2008 02:33 pm
Comments (21)
I'm looking forward to hearing what Bill and Hillary Clinton have to say about this.
You'd think some reporter would ask this power couple from New York.
Alex:
It doesn't matter. He'll need all the friends he can find, and the junior senator certainly numbers among them.
More to the point - Paterson would be New York's first black governor as well as its first legally-blind governor.
Sammy, you don't have to wait for Billary to speak on this issue.
They are going to say, "They know nothing.... nothing at all!!!!".
Then they will try to whitewash or whitewater the whole thing.
No way are they going to let Sptizer give them a black eye on this. They already have a pair of that.
I hope he resigns, for the party's sake if nothing else! Cool FYI: Patterson is blind so we would have a minority, disabled Governor. Which would be interesting all around.
Anyone know the process that a potential Governor Patterson would use to pick a new Lt. Gov.?
you think Bill and Elliott were good buddies in NY? You know, like going to clubs together and things?
David Paterson, first black governor of New York. Wow. This is huge.
DSG:
That's an interesting question. You'll recall that when Spitzer had to replace his comptroller, Alan Hevesi, he had a panel come up with three names (which the legislature then ignored).
I suspect that politics will play a greater role in Patterson's own choice. He'll be looking forward to 2010, when he'll face re-election. The black, blind son of a Gang of Four member ain't exactly going to play well upstate, so I suspect he'll find a state rep to shore up his credibility with rural voters.
I think this would be the reaction from the Clinton's
Bill: Damn it!. I thought he was a straight shooter and hence ignored him. If I knew I would been a client
Hillary: Thank Goodness! Bill did not know about this earlier
Somehow "sex scandal" and "Clinton backer" isn't the word associations Hillary Clinton wants splashed across the news today.
Barack Obama is going on a world tour to visit - Iraq, Israel, Europe, Asia and Africa, more soon.
Report here on-
http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=870#comments
Spitzer is client #9
Is O---a client #10?
Hillary's Big NY Supporter ! Hillary's Illegal Immigrant Drivers License buddy!
Hillary - you really are Experienced!
David Paterson must be intelligent in some ways since, though born legally blind, he passed the bar exam and has had some political success. Yet he must also be quite a fool since he once introduced legislation in the State Senate to require police in New York State to shoot to wound, aiming at the arms or legs, and subjecting them to 2nd-degree manslaughter charges if they failed to so and fatally wounded a suspect. Scary foolish.
I suspect that Spitzer is hanging on for bit partly because folks all around the state are worried about David Paterson's becoming governor. Obviously Spitzer's choice of Paterson as running mate was a certain kind of prudent -- and look, suddenly Spitzer is delaying resigning, even as it emerges that the Feds have Spitzer on tape. Is there some way to call a quick governor's election? Quickly change the law to allow such an election? I'm sure there's a lot of panicky communication right now in NYC, Albany, and other places around the state.
Now imagine that they managed to arrange for a quick election. How much would the pressure be on HRC to drop her presidential campaign and step in to save NY State?
And if Giuliani ran on the GOP side, the election would be interesting in itself.
Just speculating at this point, of course, I don't know enough about NY State law.
Of course, David Patterson would become Governor of NY in the event that Spitzer resigns.
Who becomes Lt. Governor - would it be Andrew Cuomo who is now Attorney General?
From what I gather, Paterson. Anything would be an improvement over Spitzer, however.
This is just one more example of the Hillary's lack of judgment. Heaven forbid, if she'd chosen him as a running mate.
Does this mean we would have a Governor and no Lt. Governor????
This is an embarrassment for Mrs. Clinton - it has to be.
The biggest irony is that if Patterson doesn't want the top spot it would go to Sen Bruno as the Presdient Pro Tem of the Senate.
I'm not sure, but there isn't a provision for the new Governor ( Mr. Paterson ) to pick his Lt. Governor. They will have to wait till the 2010 election and have the NY voters pick him.
That means Joe Bruno takes over as Lt Governor.
You can't make this stuff up
Why do some men pay for what they can get for FREE -- especially from their wives?
http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/03/back-to-new-york-governor-elliot.html#links
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It's probably worth noting that Paterson is far from an enthusiastic Clinton supporter:
http://newbrooklynnetwork.typepad.com/brooklyn_ron/2008/02/david-paterson.html
Posted by alex | March 10, 2008 2:50 PM