Thanks to a growing scandal, Saturday Night Live brought back Fred Armisen's Governor Paterson character is back on Weekend Update. And Armisen-as-Paterson (hereafter referred to as "Paterson") relished the return, "Congratulations, NY Times, you snared the elusive David Paterson. Finding something wrong with my administration is like finding a needle in the needle store. You found out I was a bad governor. Who tipped you off—everyone?" more ›

Governor Paterson does not appear to be backing down from his comments about racial bias that have brought quite a bit of fire his way since making them Friday. Paterson told the blog The Borrero Report, “I have been quiet for seventeen months on this issue. I played by the rules...Part of what I feel is that one very successful minority is permissible, but when you see too many success stories, then some people get nervous." Paterson once again brought up how much he hates being called "the accidental governor," did not back down on calling out NY1's Dominic Carter for his coverage of the governor's late night out at a Manhattan night club recently and also said that "it seems that I have to work twice as hard as others." And while it was reported over the weekend that an Obama official placed a call to the governor's office asking not to be dragged into Paterson's problems, a spokesman for the president made that explicit today. Obama's spokesman said, "Whether or not race plays into (media coverage of the president), I don't think it is the case. The President doesn't think it is the case." more ›

Maybe what upsets Governor Paterson most about the Saturday Night Live portrayals he says crossed the line and hurt him isn't so much their content, but his frustration in wishing that he was the one who was sitting at the Weekend Update desk. After seeing him send up the infamous health care union 1199 ads over the weekend, we think Paterson could put together a pretty solid audition tape. more ›

Governor Paterson continues to defend the idea that his administration is not a sinking ship as criticisms keep getting launched at him from all sides. In today's Times, he admits errors in being lax with staff leading to the recent flurry of turnover among his aides but says he think that his managing of the financial crisis could put him back in the good graces of New Yorkers. He called his first year "a real challenge" and told the paper, "In spite of the fact that I get called the accidental governor and all that, I’ve never been treated like one.” more ›

With another shakeup inside the Paterson administration this weekend, the local papers once again focus on just how steady a ship the governor has been running. After Communication Director Risa Heller stepped down Friday, Paterson said, "I think if there was one area I never seem to get to, it's just, in a sense, my own little reorganization." The Post seems to think that this is emblematic of how he operates citing that he has only held two full cabinet meetings (of all 100+ staffers) in his eleven months as governor. But look who's sticking up for the gov in the News today—his wife Michelle! She again calls out the onslaught of negative press from the tabloids saying, "This state has $15 billion in deficit, and they are so interested and want to make a big deal about what did happen with Caroline Kennedy. I think it's so frivolous, and I think it's sad." She also puts an epic spin on the couple's sudden catapult into the state house saying, "We didn't want to be in this spot. We were put here. I am a very spiritual person. I feel we were put here for a reason." more ›

With Governor Paterson's reelection prospects appearing to dwindle as the months go by, there's a very realistic possibility that he could end up a footnote in history as the man who merely finished up Eliot Spitzer's disastrous administration. But SNL's Fred Armisen seems to be doing his best to see to it that his caricature of the "accidental governor" as a Catskills comedian makes its mark and lives on in SNL political specials and DVD compilations of days to come. Last night Armisen's Paterson said he wasn't too worried about his reelection chances because, "I don't really do elections. I'm more of a 'oh no what are we gonna do?!' last resort type of guy." more ›