Is it a coincidence that David Paterson, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, and Barack Obama have all seen their numbers plummet recently? Not at all, claims Paterson. It’s because they’re black. The media is giving Paterson an especially hard time and “orchestrating” an effort to nudge him aside because of his race, he told the Daily News’ Errol Louis earlier today.
“And I submit that the same kind of treatment that Deval Patrick is receiving right now in Massachusetts, and I’m receiving; the way in which the New York State Senate was written about, calling them a bunch of people with thick necks they’re talking about Malcolm Smith and John Sampson that we’re not in the post-racial period.”
Paterson can blame the media all he wants (he even gets a little harsh, boasting that the state will be alive long after struggling media outlets have shuttered), and he’s right that at times it has been overeager to criticize him. And while you definitely can’t say we’ve made it to a post-racial period, the media didn’t create the recession, sow widespread dysfunction in Albany, or botch a Senate appointment — just some of the things that have no doubt led to Paterson’s low approval rating and to hand-wringing by party insiders. And about those polls — a recent one showed black New Yorkers disapprove of Paterson’s job performance 47 percent to 44 percent. Are they racist, too, or is Fred Dicker just that persuasive?
Paterson Accuses Media Of Racism, Says 2010 Loss Would Be ‘Highest Honor’ [Daily Politics/NYDN]
