(This is something I’ve wondered for a while.)
Following the national media, I know basically four things about David Paterson:
- I know about his succession of Eliot Spitzer, and the biographical stuff about him that was reported at the time.
- I know about his appointment of Kristen Gillibrand to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat when she was picked for Secretary of State.
- I know about his active work to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State.
- And I know that he is desperately unpopular.
What I don’t know is
why he is unpopular. I have the impression that the Gillibrand selection pissed off some people in inside-baseball sorts of ways, but that can’t be all of it. But in Massachusetts, I don’t hear about the day-to-day running of state government in New York. So, those of you who know, why is Paterson so unpopular?
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From what I understand, Patterson just hasn't shown certain basic competencies in the office. For example, he gave a speech a while back (I think it may have been the state of the state) that was short on particulars. He hasn't been very good at getting the legislature to move faster on bills and the budget. His choice of Gillibrand annoyed some Democrats because her politics on some key issues are more to the right and her district was not one that could safely elect a new Democrat to the House (although it did, but by a thin margin).
There's probably more, but this is the gist of what I understand.