Politics on the Hudson

Our colleagues in Gannett report that Gov. David Paterson was the first person to shake hands and speak with President Barack Obama after Obama landed in Albany to give a speech at a local community college.

Over the weekend, reports had surfaced that Obama – through emissaries – had urged Paterson not to seek election. U.S. Rep. Paul
Tonko flew in on Air Force One. Other local notables, including Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, waited at the bottom of the stairs and also shook hands with Obama.

The president introduced Jill Biden, and educator and the vice president’s wife. Obama’s motorcade then slowly left, totaling 30 vehicles. Paterson’s car was ninth in the motorcade.

The president, in his first trip to upstate New York since he was elected, is expected to discuss the use of stimulus money to bolster education and create an innovation economy. The stage at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, Rensselaer County, where the president will speak has a backdrop of computer chips and other hi-tech equipment behind the podium.
The president is expected to tour a classroom and give his speech at about 11:30 a.m. He is then headed to New York City to tape an interview on David Lettermen’s “Late Show.” He will begin three days of meetings at the United Nations on Tuesday.