RUSH: Do you remember when Andrew Cuomo got into some deep trouble in New York, was thinking of running for governor, and Bill Clinton went in there and said to Andrew Cuomo in whatever words Clinton used: don’t do it. (imitating Clinton) ‘You remember what happened to Torricelli over there, Torricelli wouldn’t go away and we had to push him out. Andrew, we love you and your time will come down the line but we don’t want you there now,’ and so Andrew Cuomo backed out. Well, President Obama, New York Times reporting Obama called for David Paterson, the governor of New York, to not run for reelection. It seems that Paterson’s poll numbers don’t look good, more than a year out. ‘President Obama had sent a request to Mr. Paterson that he withdraw from the New York governor’s race, fearing that Mr. Paterson cannot recover from his dismal political standing, according to two senior administration officials and a New York Democratic operative with direct knowledge of the situation.’ Really? Really? What happens if this applies to Obama, when we get into 2012, is somebody going to tell Obama not to run for reelection?
It appears that Obama’s not much different than Governor Paterson. ‘The move against a sitting Democratic governor represents an extraordinary intervention into a state political race by the president, and is a delicate one, given that Mr. Paterson is one of only two African-American governors in the nation. But Mr. Obama’s political team and other party leaders have grown increasingly worried that the governor’s unpopularity could drag down Democratic members of Congress in New York, as well as the Democratic-controlled Legislature, in next fall’s election.’ Now, if you are a fan of Barack Obama, this sounds like a serious and terrible precedent. I wonder how receptive Obama would be to a call from former President Clinton asking Obama to step down for the good of the party in 2012 and let Hillary run. If unemployment stays above 10%, if the deficit continues to explode, if inflation kicks in, if taxes are being pushed, if we have given up our number one superpower status, I mean this president is going to be a huge anchor on his party, not just in 2012 but in 2010. I mean Democrats are being destroyed all over the country thanks to Obama’s malfeasance in office.
Don’t forget the polling data we had on Friday from Public Policy Polling where state Democrats are urging, ‘Please don’t poll us here, we know we’re in bad shape, we don’t want people to know how bad, please don’t poll Democrats in our states.’ We don’t know which states but there are a number of them. Now, if I were Paterson, and I’m not Paterson, don’t forget Paterson, at a press conference when he announced he’s going to raise taxes, somebody said, ‘Rush Limbaugh is leaving the state,’ Paterson said, ‘Well, if I’d have known that I’d have raised taxes even sooner.’ But Carl McCall, a black Democrat running for governor, and the Democrat Party, Howard Dean, not supporting him at all. We, in the interests of political balance and fairness, raised a little money for Carl McCall, a black Democrat abandoned by his party. Here’s another black Democrat, David Paterson, being abandoned by his black president, Barack Obama. All because Paterson’s an albatross around Obama’s neck.
So if I were Paterson, what I’d do, I’d call Obama and say, ‘Hey, look, buddy, you need to come up with a better stimulus plan and you need to fix unemployment. That would help me. That would help a lot of Democrats out there.’ I mean the fact of the matter is Paterson hasn’t done himself any good, he’s a doofus, but Obama has probably done as much to wreck Paterson’s career as Paterson has himself, and that’s saying something. And, by the way, Paterson, Obama tells you to get out of there, to scram, and Obama arrives in New York today to begin this week-long festive week at the UN, do his speech in Troy, New York, and who’s the first guy to greet him off the plane steps when Obama lands? Paterson. Paterson is there sucking up, Obama gives him a big, big, big embrace and I’m telling you that’s the kiss of death, that’s like an owner of a football team expressing confidence in the coach, ‘Oh, yeah, here’s a vote of confidence, I’m perfectly happy with my coach,’ and it’s just a matter of weeks before the coach is pounding sand on the beach.
I mean if you’re Patterson and the president just told you to go get lost, what the hell are you doing being first in line, unless you’re going to whisper in his ear, ‘Hey, pal, you give me a stimulus plan, you give me something to work with and get my poll numbers up. You’re an albatross around my neck, it’s not the way you’re describing it.’ But Paterson in the New York Times says, screw it! ‘Gov. David A. Paterson insisted on Sunday that he would continue his campaign for governor, despite urgings from the White House that he step aside for the good of the Democratic Party. … The plan to appeal to Paterson to step aside was proposed by the president’s political team and approved by Mr. Obama. Some Democrats expressed anger at what they saw as heavy-handed tactics by the president’s political team.’ Is this what gets them mad? Is this what gets ’em mad? ‘But others, including two members of the state’s Congressional delegation, praised the move, saying something had to be done, given the governor’s potential drag on the ticket next fall.’
What’s Corzine? I mean, Corzine is not exactly lighting it up in New Jersey, and the Democrat in Virginia is not exactly helping out. So will it require me once again to stand up for a black Democrat politician in New York among influential people? It looks like it’s going to come down to me again and us, folks. We’re the ones that stood up for Carl McCall way back when in those good old days.