ALBANY—The only other governor present for David Paterson’s State of the State speech was George Pataki, a Republican who told me David Paterson was spot on.
“I thought it was exactly the right message,” Pataki told me after the speech before saying hello to some of his former legislative colleagues. “These are times when we need fiscal reform, we need to face the economic realities, we need to restore public confidence in ethics reform, and I think the governor had that right message. I hope that the legislature is responsive.”
I asked Pataki if he was surprised that he got the first shout-out by name in Paterson’s speech. He chuckled quickly.
“The governor is a very gracious human being,” he replied.