Gov. David Paterson may not be getting much love from the White House these days, but at least he's getting some props from the guy responsible for putting him in office.
Speaking at Harvard University's Safra ethics center yesterday, former governor Eliot Spitzer, who got Paterson into the gubernatorial mess in the first place, said he considered Dave to be a close friend who deserves the support of all Democrats.
"He is making tough decisions on the budget and the welter of issues that need to be confronted in a moment of economic crisis, and he is doing so thoughtfully," Spitzer told the Daily News after delivering a lecture on corruption in big business.
That's a case Paterson makes for himself in the campaign ads he's unveiled for his 2010 run. And while President Barack Obama has asked the governor, who's been floundering in the polls for months, to sit this one out, Paterson says he believes Obama will back him if he's the nominee for the Democratic party.
"If I'm the Democratic nominee, I'm sure he would," Paterson told Bloomberg Radio.
Winning the Democratic primary would be a challenge for Paterson, if recent polls are any indication. The latest numbers show him trailing Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has received only the warmest of receptions from Obama, by up to 50 points.
As for Spitzer, he wouldn't answer any questions about the prostitution scandal that led to his downfall, but did tell his audience he "resigned because I thought it was the right thing to do," reports the News.
