One-Two Punch: NYT Prints ‘Real’ Paterson ‘Bombshell’ Story
The New York Times has published their other Gov. David Paterson ‘bombshell’ article today. It would be interesting to understand the NYT‘s thinking on all this. Many people assumed that Wednesday’s splashy A-1 story on Paterson’s shady aide David W. Johnson was the bombshell — and rightly so considering the placement and the content. Meanwhile today’s multi-bylined, multi-page bonanza is still A-1, but has been pushed down a bit and sans the impossible to miss picture. Was that the original plan? Or did all the national attention on Paterson split the story in two and make it double A-1 worthy in the eyes of the editors? Maybe Clark Hoyt will weigh in this weekend.
Regardless the fact of the matter is that if the existence of the stories hadn’t been scooped by all forms of new media a few weeks ago, they certainly would have been considered bombshell-esque by many. Just the mere fact the Times has run two huge, not flattering, A-1 stories on Paterson in and of itself is newsworthy and probably does not bode well for Paterson’s political future.
So what does this one say. Well it’s not scandalous, but it’s not great. Paterson is remote, unreliable, and is “increasingly reliant on people whom he feels comfortable with but who lack deep experience in government” also he may not actually work that hard.
A review of several months of Mr. Paterson’s private schedules shows that his days were not long; he often arrived at his office in Manhattan or Albany after 10 a.m. and departed by 4:30 or 5 p.m. Sometimes, he has failed to show up at long-scheduled events.
Last May, Mr. Paterson was lined up to speak in Manhattan at the evening graduation ceremony for Teachers College, Columbia University. It was kind of a makeup: he had agreed in 2008 to be the speaker at the same ceremony but canceled at the last minute because he needed emergency eye surgery.
University officials were surprised last year when Mr. Paterson canceled again, with just two hours’ notice.
“The second time, it was going to be kind of like closure,” said Joe Levine, a spokesman for the college. “I don’t really know why he didn’t come.”
He had to cancel, the governor said, because of an emergency terrorism briefing. The Times requested the names of others who attended the briefing, or other evidence that the briefing had occurred, but Mr. Paterson’s office declined to provide any.
Also, apparently not even Paterson’s friends want to go on the record supporting him.
As The Times prepared this article, Mr. Paterson and his staff encouraged reporters to interview a number of the governor’s supporters to speak about his record. One declined to comment. Two others did not return phone calls requesting an interview. One supporter who did agree to speak for the record was Robert G. Wilmers, a Buffalo banking executive and former appointee of Mr. Paterson as chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation.
It’s not a flattering piece. It may not be a bombshell as we have come to understand it in relation to Albany but between this and Wednesday’s piece there is there is a sort of relentless wearing down effect that may in the end do more damage. Read the full article here.
