Cuomo lets a running-mate question linger
Liz Benjamin
The position of lieutenant governor is arguably the least important of all of New York’s many elected posts, until the moment it’s not.
David Paterson used to joke that his main responsibility as lieutenant governor to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was to call Spitzer in the morning. When the governor answered the phone, it was Paterson’s cue to go back to bed, knowing he wouldn’t be moving up the political food chain for another day.
At the time, a middle-of-the-night heart attack seemed more plausible than what actually did befall Spitzer—a prostitution scandal that abruptly propelled Paterson into the executive mansion, earning him the moniker the “accidental governor,” (which, like all accidental governors, he hated).
Paterson’s unexpected ascension, and his brief but rocky tenure as governor, brought a new focus onto the lieutenant governor position and the need to fill it – however thankless a job it might usually be – with someone competent and credible enough to actually run the state if pressed into service. And perhaps more importantly: Someone loyal who won’t be an embarrassment or a liability.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/05/8545169/cuomo-lets-running-mate-question-linger