In what is truly a case of politics making for strange bedfellows, it's reported that Governor Paterson's right-hand man, Charles O'Byrne (pictured), recently had a meeting with GOP operative Roger Stone. Stone of course is the man best known for helping bring down former Governor Eliot Spitzer, outing his penchant for socks-on time and chewing out Spitzer's elderly father along the way. Stone has publicly stated that he would like to see Paterson, and not Andrew Cuomo, get the Democratic nomination next year because he knows the governor appears more vulnerable to a GOP opponent. Could O'Byrne have been looking for assistance from a man eager to aid the governor's ultimate defeat?
O'Byrne had little to say about the meeting, but a source close to him told the Post that the rendezvous at Park Avenue bistro L'Express was set up strictly to discuss how to garner GOP support for Paterson's gay marriage bill. But another source tells the Fred Dicker that "Paterson's attempt to survive a possible challenge from Cuomo was definitely discussed."
Dicker then mentions that soon after the meeting, emails from very murky sources began appearing in Inboxes trashing Cuomo. He says that some included "salacious allegations against the attorney general, and even included photos of a woman he was said to be involved with." Stone denies any connection to the Cuomo smearing, telling Dicker, "It was definitely not me. I've received them, too, and they are very virulent."
Any newfound fondness Stone may have found for Paterson certainly hasn't helped dissolve his animosity with his former arch nemesis. Over at The Stone Zone, he begins his most recent post, "My disdain for Eliot Spitzer is well-chronicled in these pages. It is no secret that I despise the man as an arrogant, short tempered fraud." Stone then goes on to argue why Spitzer deserves the little-publicized "shitbag award."
