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December 4, 2008 2:56:04 PM CST

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Incoming Gov. No Stranger to Establishment

Posted Mar 12, 08 1:32 PM CDT in Politics 

(Newser) – He's nothing like the New York governor who precedes him, but David Paterson brings skills that could take him far in Albany—and question marks, too. The lieutenant governor had been ready to move into Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, Politico reports, but arrives instead at the statehouse with a reputation as a unifier directly at odds with steamrolling Eliot Spitzer.

But watchers wonder if the Democratic organization man has the strength to be an exec; one former aide remembered how Paterson always hated “to be the bad guy.” But writing in the Nation, John Nichols calls the Harlem resident an “experienced and capable progressive leader,” strong on civil rights, who has managed to befriend Republicans while hewing closely to the left.

Sources Politico, Nation

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Democratic candidate for governor Eliot Spitzer, right, with Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor David Paterson, speaks in Cheektowaga, N.Y. a suburb of Buffalo in this May 31, 2006 file photo....   (Associated Press)
New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson attends the opening night of "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," in this March 6, 2008 photo, in New York. Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced Wednesday, March 12, 2008, that he would resign...   (Associated Press)
New York State Lt. Gov. David Paterson takes his oath of office, in this Jan. 1, 2007 file photo, at the New York State Capitol in Albany, N.Y., as his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, right, watches. Attention...   (Associated Press)
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Hillary Clinton • New York • Eliot Spitzer • David Paterson • Albany • Harlem • progressive


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