President Obama gave Governor David Paterson the cold shoulder when he came off Air Force One in Albany, NY on Sept. 21.

Like it or not, Washington politics have arrived in New York’s backyard.

President Obama paid a visit to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY and Vice President Joe Biden stopped by our own Syracuse University within the same month. When is the last time a sitting president and vice president visited upstate New York within the same month? Even more, when is the last time a Democrat in the oval office visited the Capital Region? President Clinton did visit Albany in 2000 in support of Hillary’s Senate campaign, but the last Democrat to visit Albany before him was Harry Truman in 1948.

This rush to upstate is not just to see the fall leaves or to hype education and tech-based jobs, but to launch a public relations blitz.

The administration does not believe Governor David Paterson should run in 2010 for fear of dragging down the Democrats. That’s part of the reason Mr. Obama paid a visit to the otherwise forgotten Albany. Paterson responded back to the president with a quick comment on ‘Meet the Press’ this past Sunday. He said, ‘I don’t think I am a drag on the party. I think I’m fighting for the priorities of my party. I think you fight for the people of your state. That’s what I thought being a Democrat was supposed to be all about.’

This makes Washington Democrats go berserk.

They fear that the governorship may fall into the hands of a Republican, most likely Rudy Giuliani, in 2010 if Paterson runs. The Associated Press reports ‘A Paterson run could even entice Republican savior-in-waiting Rudy Giuliani to run for governor.’

In the Democrats’ horror scenario, a Republican may even win the Senate seat of Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed amid controversy by Paterson. This would burst a hole in the Senate’s current Democratic filibuster-proof majority.

Paterson is being pushed aside for more popular candidates like state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. A recent Marist College poll found that the governor had a 17 percent approval rating. Meanwhile, Marist discovered 69 percent of registered voters approve of Cuomo’s performance as Attorney General.

Although the poll numbers look daunting, Patterson defended himself on ‘Meet the Press.’ He told host David Gregory, ‘You don’t give up because you have low poll numbers.’

Paterson will surely face an uphill battle in his campaign for governor, but things need to be put into perspective. He had to take the reigns of governor after Eliot Spitzer resigned and has had to lead during one of the worst fiscal crises in New York’s history.

In an attempt to balance the budget, Paterson slashed government spending. This offended many special-interest groups that could have helped fund his campaign. To be fair, under Paterson’s leadership, New York has skirted bankruptcy. It has not needed to write IOUs or cut critical government services like states such as California have had to do.

However, Paterson himself confessed that he never expected, nor really wanted, to become governor. ‘I had this grand plan that Hillary Clinton was going to become president… [then] maybe [Spitzer] would appoint me to the Senate,’ he said at an Associated Press event in Syracuse this past week.

Obama’s introduction for Cuomo at his press conference in Troy last week reveals the president’s feelings on who he would like to see as governor of New York. When introducing Paterson, he acted more like it was his duty. When introducing Cuomo, he flashed the ‘million-dollar’ Obama smile and praised the work Cuomo was doing for the state.

Paterson did confide on ‘Meet the Press’ that he knew the Obama administration was concerned for him running for governor by saying, ‘I’m blind, I’m not oblivious.’

The White House is attempting to throw its political weight around by visiting upstate. New Yorkers don’t approve. Marist also found out that 62 percent of New Yorkers don’t believe the president should be meddling in the gubernatorial race.

These visits to upstate New York represent the same old Washington politics, except uprooted to the Empire State. ‘Change we can believe in’ it is not. The president needs to focus on his national agenda, healthcare and climate change. He needs to stop thinking about New York gubernatorial races.

The president does not have a right to meddle New York’s politics. That’s not his duty, nor what he was elected to do. If Paterson wants to run, he should run.

He may not be successful, but I agree with his point on ‘Meet the Press:’ ‘The people of New York are the ones who should choose their governor.’

Andrew Swab is a sophomore magazine and international relations major. His columns appear weekly. He can be reached at ajswab@syr.edu.

Published on September 28, 2009 at 12:00 pm