Politics on the Hudson

Happy 55th birthday, David Paterson.

The state’s first African American and first legally blind governor surely didn’t expect to be where he is today when he turned, say, 50 (when he was a state senator) or even 53  (when he was lieutenant governor). But by the time he turned 54, the New York political world was turned upside down with the prostitution scandal that brought down Eliot Spitzer and elevated him to the top governmental job in the state.

He will most likely still be governor when he turns 56 next May, but polls show he’s a long shot to still be in his post on his 57th birthday.  The next gubernatorial election is November 2010.