Governor Paterson once again told America Sunday that he has every intention of running to remain in office next year, but he made it even clearer that he has no intention of escalating or even drawing out his ongoing public feud with the White House. Paterson sat down with David Gregory during Meet the Press where the governor spent most of his ten minutes on the national stage refusing to go into the controversy that undoubtedly prompted the show to invite him on in the first place.
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When Gregory kept pushing to get him to reveal that Obama has discouraged him from running, the governor finally let out, "There are people that told me not to run. There are a lot of people who have told me not to run.," but added, "I've never gotten an, an explicit indication authorized from the White House that I shouldn't run... They certainly sent a message that they have concerns, and I appreciate that." It also wouldn't be a Paterson public appearance without a self-deprecating reference to his disability, "I'm blind, but I'm not oblivious."
PolitickerNY gives Paterson some comedy points, comparing the interview to Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun standing in front of a massive explosion while telling the public, "Nothing to see here! Nothing to see here!" We're pretty sure they didn't mean it as a compliment. The rest of the interview is after the jump—including Paterson comparing the assessment of his 2010 chances to the disbelief that Richard Ravitch would be approved as lieutenant governor.
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