'Actually, I Didn't Rehire Him. We Just Put Him Back Where He Had Been'

Doublespeak that would make Bill Clinton green with envy. If anything, David Paterson is a natural for the Obama administration after he gets booted from the governor's mansion in 2010.

It's nonsense like this that will ensure that.

Gov. Paterson was on the defensive yesterday as he scrambled to explain why he secretly rehired a top aide one day after the governor publicly announced his dismissal from a highly paid job.

"Actually, I didn't rehire him. We just put him back where he had been," Paterson said as he was peppered with questions about the circumstances under which his former secretary and chief of staff, William Cunningham, was fired on Feb. 25 and then rehired a day later at almost the same pay.

"We just needed to make some changes in our leadership," added Paterson, who has seen his approval rating plunge to a record low.

"He's been very hardworking and had been very effective there," continued the governor, who had privately told several associates he was dumping Cunningham for poor performance.

When Cunningham, a former law partner of the governor's father, Basil, and a longtime Long Island Democratic activist, was dumped from his $178,500-a-year position, a press release said he had resigned "effective today" and noted he would stay on only for "a transition period."

But despite the governor's claim to have imposed a "hard" hiring freeze, Cunningham was rehired the next day as a $170,000-a-year "deputy secretary," a post he had once held.