Governor Paterson is savoring his sense of vindication after the Times "nonshell" story blew by without causing much damage. (Though, when you think about it, wouldn't it be Jedi if someone in Paterson's camp had started the salacious bombshell rumor so that when the Times finally ran their story—about how the Governor's right-hand man has a history of assaulting women—it would seem tame by comparison?) Paterson took to the airwaves again after the hotly-anticipated article ran and had this to say:
Yeah, this was the big bombshell that during the Super Bowl I had to spend half the time trying to get my office to shut down rumors that the governor has to resign over this big bombshell. It’s kind of like, since they couldn’t find anything on me, they went and found something on one of my assistants who they act is the chief of staff-he’s not even part of our senior staff-he is a valued and hard-working assistant.
Well, according to the Times, this "assistant," David Johnson, has actually come to serve as Paterson's filter: "Some heads of significant government agencies have said they feel they have to go through Mr. Johnson, often known as D. J., to get to the governor." And one former official says, "I started getting messages from D. J. telling me to call certain players in my industry."
Still, Paterson has successfully spun L'affaire D.J. as an election-year attack from shadowy political operatives. But will he try to blame the Times nonshell for what's looking to be a poorly-attended campaign kickoff event at Hofstra Saturday? Apparently, the Governor is not only having a hard time getting Democratic officials to attend, he's also struggling to fill the audience. The university has sent out an email urging students to attend, and Baruch College's Doug Muzzio tells the Daily News, "If he doesn't get good turnout, it is just further indication that the candidacy is doomed, that it's stillborn."
And a Sunday campaign event planned for Harlem has been "delayed" so that key supporters could be included to make a bigger event. Meanwhile, the cavalry has arrived to save Paterson in this treacherous time! Sources tell the Post that the Governor has been taking advice on how to "rescue his flailing administration"... from Eliot Spitzer. There's a joke in here somewhere about the blind leading the blind, but it's probably in poor taste.
