Lancman on David Paterson's 'Coming Out' Moment

David Paterson is making a big deal out of the budget crisis not because the New York is in dire straights, but because he's “coming out” as governor, says Democratic Assemblyman Rory Lancman

“There’s no crisis right now," he told me in an interview this afternoon. "There’s a $600 million shortfall that the governor, through some modest, unilateral actions, has already resolved. This whole exercise is about David Paterson becoming governor. This is his coming out, so to speak. And he’s chosen to come out as the governor who cut spending and imposes discipline on a profligate legislature. And that’s not the governor we want him to be.”

He added, “The next three weeks is a fight among the different ideologies and philosophies in New York State politics, for David’s soul.”