Whiny Paterson Doubles Down on Race Card

I didn't think it could get any more pathetic than Friday's racial outburst from the accidental governor, yet here he continues to dig his own political grave. One must wonder if he needs to be removed from office before he completely loses it.

Gov. Paterson is not backing away from blaming his troubles in office on race.

After complaining on a Friday radio show that he is the victim of an "orchestrated" campaign to push him out of office, Paterson told a blogger that some people are uncomfortable with too many black people in power.

"Part of what I feel is that one very successful minority is permissible, but when you see too many success stories, then some people get nervous," Paterson told political blogger Gerson Borrero over the weekend.

Paterson's comment is sure to catch the ear of the White House, which already asked him to tone down his rhetoric after he said Friday that President Obama will be the next target of a racist media.

Defensive and at time self pitying, Paterson indicated he's been stewing for some time.

"I have been quiet for 17 months on this issue," he said.

"I played by the rules. It was a very difficult position to find myself in and I've given it my best. I've done the best I can under the very trying circumstances the state is facing."

Paterson created a firestorm last week after telling Daily News columnist Errol Louis in a radio interview that a racist media is trying to kill his chances of running for a full term next year.

He said he understands the criticism over the budget and the Senate leadership battle, but Paterson suggested to Borrero that he is held to a different standard.

"It seems I have to work twice as hard as others," he said.

And it still bothers him that people refer to him as the "accidental governor." He took office in 2008 after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

"It was not an accident. It is a constitutional mandate," he said. "I became governor by a constitutional mandate."

He said the successors to disgraced governors Jim McGreevey of New Jersey and John Rowland of Connecticut were not dubbed "accidental governors."

Probably because they went about doing their jobs and not feeding on racial paranoia, Dave.