Even though Governor Paterson’s past three months “have been his best,” as Chris Smith writes in the magazine this week, the incumbent currently has about enough primary-campaign money to buy seven moderately sized “Vote for Paterson” buttons. Well, a little bit more than that he has $620,000 on hand. But that’s still less than the already unimpressive $3 million he was thought to have had, and way less than the $12 million his presumed audaciously popular opponent Andrew Cuomo has stockpiled for the race. For some perspective, $620,000 isn’t even enough to buy one week’s worth of television airtime. Nevertheless, Paterson is pushing forward with confidence. At a strategy session in Harlem over the weekend, he promised to raise $8 million over the next few months, though potential donors may be hard-pressed to contribute, for the same reason that they don’t drive to the beach and throw wads of cash into the ocean.
Gov. Paterson has mere $620G to battle $12 million-man Andrew Cuomo in primary [NYDN]
Paterson vows $8M boost to battle Cuomo [NYP]
Related: David’s Goliath [NYM]