Politics on the Hudson

   Could comments made this afternoon be Gov. David Paterson’s final word on what he meant when he said last week that racial bias is a factor in media criticism of him?

   Reporters at a press availability the governor had in Albany were encouraged by Paterson’s staff to ask a wide range of questions—meaning they shouldn’t all be about the racism topic that the governor has been unable to escape since making comments on a radio show last Friday and then making similar remarks in an interview that appeared on the Borrero Report blog this week. Paterson, the state’s first African-American governor, went on the same radio program this morning to apologize and further clarify what he meant.

   A few questions from Capitol reporters were on the issue, and this is what the governor said:

   “I regret the remarks because I think they could have been better thought out, and that’s what I apologized for today. I was talking about a couple of incidents that I thought had happened to me, and I think in the way I presented it, I made it sound as if it was with a broad brush, as if I think it happens all the time. And by no means does it happen all the time.”

   Responding to a reporter’s questions, Paterson said he doesn’t think the incident hurts him or his chances at getting the Democratic nomination to run for governor next year.

   “My hopes are that we will start talking about the economy, how to grow jobs in this economy and how to withstand what is still a revenue base that’s falling, and what I’ll be trying to do, which I was trying to do all this time, is to get us focused on the issues that are going to affect everyday New Yorkers. That’s what people are going to vote about and that’s where I’ve been trying to push the focus for the last six months.”

   “I think that when a person or a media entity or whoever it is makes a mistake and acknowledges it, it demonstrates that they are listening to people and that’s a quality we’re going to need going into negotiations to try to reduce this budget,” he said, referring to the more than $2 billion budget deficit New York has.

   The governor said he wants to try and call lawmakers back to Albany Sept. 23 or Sept. 29 for a budget-cutting session.

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