We Never Liked That Guy Spitzer Anyway: Dems Swear in Paterson with Relief

Almost as if Eliot Spitzer and the prostitute ring scandal which felled him had never existed, David Paterson was sworn in as governor in an Assembly chamber packed to capacity with cheering supporters, guests and legislators.Many seemed as if they could not have been happier to see Spitzer go.

In contrast to the antagonistic approach Spitzer had often taken to the Legislature, Paterson repeatedly returned to the theme of unity.

“What we are going to do from now on is what we always should have done,” he said to the joint session. “We’re going to work together.”

While the atmosphere was tense and several jokes fell flat during Spitzer’s January State of the State address, Paterson presided over a much lighter mood in the chamber, helped along by his joke-filled introduction to his speech.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno later remarked that he felt as if a cloud had lifted from over Albany.

This remark was taken as a parting shot at Spitzer, with whom Bruno tussled repeatedly over his 15 months in office, prompting Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to accuse Bruno of playing politics instead of following Paterson’s call for unity.

But reading between the lines of Silver’s own remarks, the criticism of Spitzer seemed clear.

“It’s been a long time since we have heard more eloquent, more spirited or more unifying remarks delivered by a governor in the Assembly chamber,” Silver said in his press conference after the speech.

Photo by Andrew Schwartz

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