The New York Post has a bombshell of a story.  The Gang of three is claiming that Governor Paterson wants a Hispanic majority leader of the Senate, despite public comments that he is supporting Malcolm Smith.

From the Post:

Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. and Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. told The Post that Paterson told them that having a Hispanic leader in the Senate would boost his re-election bid.

“We were just following Gov. Paterson’s lead,” said Diaz (D-Bronx). “Gov. Paterson indicated to us in a certain way that it would have been a benefit to him that a Hispanic be the leader, because that would help him in 2010.”

(snip)

But a person close to Paterson denied the rogues’ account and said attendees had agreed not to publicly discuss the meeting.

“The governor said that he would like to see an elected official of Hispanic descent rise to a leadership role in the city or the state, but he didn’t put that in the context of Malcolm’s leadership or his own political gain,” the person said. “That’s been misconstrued.”

This certainly is a change from the past — but is it the change we need?