Paterson's Preview

Editorial of The New York Sun
March 14, 2008

The man who on Monday will take over as governor of New York, David Paterson, offered a press preview yesterday in Albany, and there was both plenty to like and some reason for caution. Refreshing was the new tone, the desire, as Mr. Paterson put it, not to dictate, but to persuade. Welcome was the sense of humor that Mr. Paterson used skillfully to defuse a question about whether he had ever patronized a prostitute while in office, as his predecessor is accused of doing. "Only the lobbyists," Mr. Paterson said in a memorable riposte (which he dampened a bit by adding that it underscores the need for campaign finance reform).

Less confidence-inspiring was his answer to a question about whether he will adhere to Governor Spitzer's pledge not to raise taxes. There he referred to the anti-tax pledge as something that he and Mr. Spitzer "believed" during the campaign, putting it in the past tense. He described it as applying only to the personal income tax, narrowing it from the broader ban on all tax increases that voters heard in the campaign. And he suggested that a worsening economy might justify a tax increase to make up for shortfalls in government revenues, when in fact a tax increase at such a moment would be particularly hard on household budgets and would worsen unemployment.

This is an important moment in the state. We are in the midst not only of a financial and monetary crisis but in a historically important debate in respect of political economy. New Yorkers will be watching to see the signals as to what Mr. Paterson takes from all this. In the past, Mr. Paterson's views on eminent domain — he's been wary of a what he's called a "gold rush" in the use of state takings — didn't matter except to the degree that he was a significant voice in the Senate in Albany or lieutenant to a pro-development governor. Now, as our Peter Kiefer reports on page one, his views, with which we don't necessarily disagree, at least on eminent domain, could impact huge projects affecting New Yorkers.

If Mr. Paterson's aim was to provide a reassuring preview, he succeeded in terms of personality but raised some questions on the policy front that will need to be watched as the budget process moves ahead. The most important thing to keep in mind in the weeks and months ahead is that whatever one may say of Mr. Spitzer — and people have said plenty of terrible things in recent days — he was elected governor in a landslide of historic proportions that everyone agreed underscored the need for reform in a state government that has sent New Yorkers fleeing to live and work in more competitive states. If Mr. Paterson spurns that mandate, he could land in his own kind of trouble. If he can implement it better than Mr. Spitzer, he will go down in the history of the state as a hero.