(Thumbnail image: Bloomberg News)

On New York’s political stage, a lot can happen in a week. First came the revelation Governor David Paterson would run for the office he filled after his predecessor- Eliot Spitzer- resigned.
 
“Despite low poll numbers, and a request from the White House to stay out of it, today David Paterson told the state: ‘I’m running for Governor’.” (WCBS, Feb. 21)

And then the media turned their attention to scandal.

“Governor David Paterson has asked the State Attorney General to investigate a brewing scandal within his inner circle. The role of state police in a domestic violence case involving a top aid has prompted the resignation of Criminal Justice Commissioner Denise O’Donnell of Buffalo.” (WIVB, Feb. 25)

And now—less than a week later, this:

“Breaking news. A bombshell announcement from NY’s embattled governor. ... Bowing out, NY Governor David Paterson won’t run for re-election.” (MSNBC)

PATERSON: "There are times in politics when you have to know not to strive for service, but to step back. And that moment has come for me."

 
Since he stepped in after Eliot Spitzer in 2008, Paterson's relatively short time in office has been marred by a bankrupted state budget and rumors of marital infidelity.
 
So it might not be surprising that a New Yorker blog says good riddance to the governor.
 
“We have been through this before—the governor in trouble, the chaos in Albany. If this wasn’t one of ten dozen problems with Paterson, would it have been enough to end his governorship? It doesn’t matter much. This was it, and rightly so.”
 
New York CBS affiliate WCBS gives its take on the governor's decision: It's the result of the state's political leaders turning against the governor.
 
“…they say that because of the rising number of scandals surrounding Governor Paterson, that his campaign became difficult for people to support and that, you know, given these tough times in tough elections with public anger and other things, that you needed to have a united Democratic Party..”
 
And in the immediate aftermath of Paterson’s announcement, many in the media didn’t waste time looking at who'd take his place.

The Christian Science Monitor muses:
 
“[Andrew] Cuomo is likely to be a formidable candidate. … As attorney general, he appears to have fearlessly taken on vested interests, such as the banking establishment and the giant conglomerate AIG.”
 

 Writer: Newsy Staff