N.Y. Governor Says He'll Clear His Name Soon [View All]

[The Northerner]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK — New York Gov. David Paterson said Friday that he plans to clear his name soon in two scandals threatening his administration, but that constant press reports are turning the public against him.

"I think that people originally hearing about this thought the governor should be allowed to clear his name," Paterson said outside his Manhattan office. "But then there have been a number of more articles with unsourced information, rumors and innuendo and inaccurate information that when cobbled together over and over and over again certainly have an effect."

Paterson is facing allegations that he and his staff interfered in a domestic violence case involving a top governor's aide. Also, a state ethics panel has accused him of seeking and accepting World Series tickets from the New York Yankees last year despite a gift ban, then lying to the panel about it.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday found that 46 percent of New Yorkers said Paterson should finish his term, while a survey released earlier in the week had that number at 61 percent.

"Support for Gov. David Paterson erodes with every new headline," said pollster Maurice Carroll. "New York state voters started the week giving the governor the benefit of the doubt 2-1. Now, there is more doubt and less benefit as he clings to a bare plurality of support," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

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