Paterson Hits the Airwaves, Eyes Matchup with Rudy

Photograph by Tim Roske/AP

Paterson has been reaching out to influential figures key to a successful campaign and even went so far to put out his first commercial, seen below. We can't remember the last time we saw so many Paterson headlines that didn't include any dealing with his abysmal polling numbers.

Part of the Paterson plan of attack thus far has been to downplay any possible primary race with the man polling strongest as a potential candidate, Andrew Cuomo. Over the weekend while Paterson visited the National Action Network, Reverend Al Sharpton said, "That race is not going to happen. This is not about David and Andrew. This is about David and Rudy Giuliani. Come on and run, Rudy. We want you to run."

Another person trying to make the threat of Cuomo disappear is Rudy Giuliani. A NY Magazine piece suggests that Giuliani's reluctance to officially throw his hat in the ring is an attempt to play rope-a-dope with Democrats, convincing them he is not a threat in hopes that they will get behind the more vulnerable Paterson. But one Giuliani source thinks that he's overscheming as usual, telling the magazine, "It’s the same idiot strategy he had running for president."