ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson stumbled a bit, once literally, in his first State of the State speech Wednesday, a tradition that allows governors to use soaring rhetoric and flourishes. In many quarters his performance was panned as pedestrian, uninspiring, even rambling.
But it’s the back story that overshadowed the political theater this year.
Paterson is perhaps the most pressured governor in state history. He’s dealing with a new version of the Great Depression, the loss of some of the most impressive addresses on Wall Street, the rare duty to appoint a U.S. senator that pits a Kennedy against a Cuomo, a shaky Senate Democratic majority he helped create, and the loss of his longtime chief of staff last fall who had protected him and helped get him to this job just 10 months ago.
Oh, and Paterson is blind. He had to memorize the 63-minute, 20-page speech full of names, historic dates, economic data, some scientific theory and a 19th century poem.
There’s no question the State of the State speech wasn’t vintage Paterson. There was little of the humor that wowed the National Press Club in July, four months after he took office following Eliot Spitzer’s resignation amid a prostitution scandal. And there was little of the fiery call to arms of his inaugural speech that March when scandal-weary Democrats and Republicans leaped to their feet as he bellowed: “Let me reintroduce myself. I am David Paterson and I am the governor of New York!”
In contrast, last week’s headlines in Westchester said Paterson “fails to excite. ” The New York Daily News’ editorial declared Paterson’s message “Dud on Arrival” after a forgettable speech, the New York Post opined that “Paterson punts again,” and The New York Times editorial was less than a rousing review, noting “the most glaring omission was any plan for real political reform.”
But part of that reaction is because he has said it all before. In a bold move, he pre-empted his own keynote speech by presenting his budget proposal a month early with a plea to the Legislature to pass a tight spending plan fast. Usually, the harsh reality of the budget - where governors say “no” a lot - doesn’t come until after the State of the State, when governors get to ask everyone to dream of what’s possible. Paterson knew that and presented his budget first anyway.
Later, Paterson would say that he felt dizzy and ill before the speech, to the point he wasn’t sure he could go on. The guy known for his laid-back style and easy humor said he was also hit with jitters before the biggest speech of his life. He began it with a misstep on the massive, multitiered rostrum in the Assembly chamber, mangled a judge’s name in the introduction and erroneously referred to the Court of Appeals as justices instead of judges.
It also was a tough room.
Legislators finally realize they can’t avoid his call for fiscal discipline and hard decisions.
And, in an ironic twist, Paterson’s job of adopting an austere state budget early just got harder. He pleaded with Washington for a multibillion dollar stimulus package for the states and now that it’s getting closer to reality, legislators in Albany are starting to say the crisis is less pressing. The urgency that Paterson has tried to imbue since a rare July televised address statewide is waning.
“I think like any other budget, and even your home budget, even if someone says they’re going to help you, you have got to budget as if they’re not, and whatever comes in would be a benefit,” Paterson said a day after Wednesday’s address. “Unfortunately, people I think are so frightened by the amount of the deficit that every time they hear the prospect that money’s coming from Washington, it almost slows up our negotiations.”
Paterson’s schedule isn’t getting any easier.
In the next few weeks he will have to make the political appointment of his lifetime, choosing a successor for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, nominated to be secretary of state, from a dozen high-powered candidates that include Caroline Kennedy and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. After that, he’ll have to say “no” a lot - and he’s never liked that - to negotiate his first budget a month early with a powerful Legislature known for its record of late budgets.
In the poem Paterson recited Wednesday, something he picked up in junior high, a wounded warrior, surrounded by the enemy and without a weapon, snatches up a discarded broken sword “and with a battle cry ... hewed his enemy down, and saved a great cause that heroic day.”
The poem is called “Opportunity,” and so is Paterson’s moment.
---
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.
AP-ES-01-09-09 1317EST
Paterson is perhaps the most pressured governor in state history. He’s dealing with a new version of the Great Depression, the loss of some of the most impressive addresses on Wall Street, the rare duty to appoint a U.S. senator that pits a Kennedy against a Cuomo, a shaky Senate Democratic majority he helped create, and the loss of his longtime chief of staff last fall who had protected him and helped get him to this job just 10 months ago.
Oh, and Paterson is blind. He had to memorize the 63-minute, 20-page speech full of names, historic dates, economic data, some scientific theory and a 19th century poem.
There’s no question the State of the State speech wasn’t vintage Paterson. There was little of the humor that wowed the National Press Club in July, four months after he took office following Eliot Spitzer’s resignation amid a prostitution scandal. And there was little of the fiery call to arms of his inaugural speech that March when scandal-weary Democrats and Republicans leaped to their feet as he bellowed: “Let me reintroduce myself. I am David Paterson and I am the governor of New York!”
In contrast, last week’s headlines in Westchester said Paterson “fails to excite. ” The New York Daily News’ editorial declared Paterson’s message “Dud on Arrival” after a forgettable speech, the New York Post opined that “Paterson punts again,” and The New York Times editorial was less than a rousing review, noting “the most glaring omission was any plan for real political reform.”
But part of that reaction is because he has said it all before. In a bold move, he pre-empted his own keynote speech by presenting his budget proposal a month early with a plea to the Legislature to pass a tight spending plan fast. Usually, the harsh reality of the budget - where governors say “no” a lot - doesn’t come until after the State of the State, when governors get to ask everyone to dream of what’s possible. Paterson knew that and presented his budget first anyway.
Later, Paterson would say that he felt dizzy and ill before the speech, to the point he wasn’t sure he could go on. The guy known for his laid-back style and easy humor said he was also hit with jitters before the biggest speech of his life. He began it with a misstep on the massive, multitiered rostrum in the Assembly chamber, mangled a judge’s name in the introduction and erroneously referred to the Court of Appeals as justices instead of judges.
It also was a tough room.
Legislators finally realize they can’t avoid his call for fiscal discipline and hard decisions.
And, in an ironic twist, Paterson’s job of adopting an austere state budget early just got harder. He pleaded with Washington for a multibillion dollar stimulus package for the states and now that it’s getting closer to reality, legislators in Albany are starting to say the crisis is less pressing. The urgency that Paterson has tried to imbue since a rare July televised address statewide is waning.
“I think like any other budget, and even your home budget, even if someone says they’re going to help you, you have got to budget as if they’re not, and whatever comes in would be a benefit,” Paterson said a day after Wednesday’s address. “Unfortunately, people I think are so frightened by the amount of the deficit that every time they hear the prospect that money’s coming from Washington, it almost slows up our negotiations.”
Paterson’s schedule isn’t getting any easier.
In the next few weeks he will have to make the political appointment of his lifetime, choosing a successor for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, nominated to be secretary of state, from a dozen high-powered candidates that include Caroline Kennedy and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. After that, he’ll have to say “no” a lot - and he’s never liked that - to negotiate his first budget a month early with a powerful Legislature known for its record of late budgets.
In the poem Paterson recited Wednesday, something he picked up in junior high, a wounded warrior, surrounded by the enemy and without a weapon, snatches up a discarded broken sword “and with a battle cry ... hewed his enemy down, and saved a great cause that heroic day.”
The poem is called “Opportunity,” and so is Paterson’s moment.
---
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.
AP-ES-01-09-09 1317EST
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