Fred Dicker of the New York Post is reporting that a number of African-American and Hispanic elected officals have had it with Governor Paterson and are poised to endorse Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for Governor.
From the Post:
PROMINENT African- American and His panic Democrats may soon endorse Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — and not incumbent Gov. Paterson — in the race for governor, The Post has learned.
“A lot of black and Hispanic legislators are saying privately they’ve had it with Paterson, especially after the Senate breakdown, and they want to go with Cuomo,” said a prominent Democratic lawmaker, referring to the Senate stalemate that has pitted the governor against members of his own party.
At least one minority lawmaker called Cuomo within the last two weeks offering his support, but was told by the attorney general that such a move was premature, sources said.
An endorsement of Cuomo by a prominent minority Democrat would be a startling rebuff to Paterson, who took office as the state’s first black governor in March 2008.
(snip)
One such preemptive attack was launched last month by US Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), a strong Paterson backer who claimed “racial polarization” would follow if Cuomo ran in a primary against the governor.
Cuomo, who faced an identical charge in 2002 when he unsuccessfully sought to win a primary for governor against Carl McCall, the state’s first black comptroller, has publicly said he’s running for re-election as attorney general.
But he has told friends privately he’s gearing up to run for governor.
“The best-case scenario for Andrew is for David to recognize he can’t win election and just get out of the race, avoiding the whole racial thing,” said a prominent elected Democrat who is not close to Cuomo.
Leave it to Mr. Charlie to play the race card. As a Republican and conservative blogger, I’m hoping Governor Paterson hangs on and is in for the long haul. We couldn’t ask for more to write about and I’m not sure anyone of our potential candidates would stand a chance against Cuomo.