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Analysis: The accidental governor settles in

By MICHAEL GORMLEY | Associated Press Writer

May 3, 2008

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ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. David Paterson says he's starting to settle into the biggest political job in the state, after he spent most of his first 50 days in political chaos.

He and his family suffered through the white-hot glare of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's fall when linked to a prostitution investigation and Paterson's own rise to become New York's first black governor and one of the nation's first blind state executives. He made his own admission of past marital affairs, which he had expected to keep in the family until he got the job he never expected. His pre-emptive disclosure drew acclaim in public opinion polls.

He's mended fences between the executive chamber and the Legislature that Spitzer had blow down. He showed rare diplomacy these days when torn between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he supports for president, and her rival Sen. Barak Obama, who would be the first black president. And Paterson talked tough during last month's budget negotiations.

Now comes the harder part, and the early reviews are strong.

On Tuesday he said "no" to good-government groups with whom he'd long been in sync back when he was senator in the minority of power. But he said this week that the state can't support campaign finance reform that would particularly help minority-party candidates because it would cost too much at this time.

On Wednesday, he stood up to the polls and Senate Republicans running hard for re-election this year when he refused to support a popular idea _ eliminating the 32-cent a gallon state gas tax.

He said he simply doesn't trust the oil industry not to jack up the price and New York can't afford to lose the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the face of more than $20 billion of projected deficits over the next three years.

"We have to bring fiscal reality back to this state," Paterson said. He notes too much spending has led to too much taxing and that's led to "early voting in New York. They are voting with their feet."

"Sometimes," he said, "I wonder what we've been doing around here."

Well, he's been here. In fact, as a leader of the minority party Democrats in the Senate he faced few spending plans he didn't like. But it didn't matter then. In Albany, if you aren't the majority in your chamber you're at the kids' table, seen but not heard.

But, as many are saying in Albany these days, the job can change a guy.

So thanks to a mix of widely held respect for Paterson, some honest talk by him in his first days in office, and a healthy dose of wishful thinking after everyone was put through a political wringer, Paterson is gaining supporters in the Legislature and beyond.

"He has a keen understanding of the Legislature and the Legislature's mindset, which his predecessor clearly did not," said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, part of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute and one of Albany's most stinging fiscal critics.

McMahon likes the Harlem Democrat's tough and narrow course. Paterson told agencies to cut spending 3.5 percent. He's harping about growing future deficits. And he told the Legislature that next year's budget must be cut by 5 percent to 10 percent. Odd talk in a town where the word cut does not compute.

"It's been clear since last summer that the economy was going down," McMahon said. "But nothing has been said about it until now."

There have been and will be some missteps. Like on Friday when he told WFAN-AM radio in an hour conversation with Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton that there was "obviously" an element in the state police that was "out of control" keeping tabs on politicians, only to tell news reporters afterward he had only lawmakers' claims to back it up.

Known for his humor and lack of pretense, Paterson is more prone to that kind of slip when he's just chatting. But when he talks about the budget, he's more focused, and deadly serious.

It's still early, but Paterson is getting more people thinking the accidental governor may be precisely what New York needs.

___

Michael Gormley is the Albany, N.Y., Capitol editor for The Associated Press. He can be reached by e-mail at mgormley(at)ap.org.