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Mar 16, 2008 11:00 am US/Eastern
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New York's Governor-To-Be Pledged To Clinton
Paterson Set To Succeed Eliot Spitzer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ―
David Paterson, who on Monday will be New York's first black governor, received a
call of congratulations from presidential candidate Barack Obama, where they
chuckled over a political conspiracy that won't be.
Paterson has campaigned for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and remains a supporter. On Monday, Paterson will succeed Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who is resigning amid an investigation involving a high-priced call girl. Obama's call came Wednesday, shortly after Spitzer announced he would step down.
"I know Sen. Obama and he just called to congratulate me and to extend, through me, his heartfelt sadness to the Spitzer family," Paterson said Friday.
Obama leads Clinton in the delegate race for the Democratic nomination and both candidates are aggressively courting the superdelegates who could determine who gets the nod. As a superdelegate, Paterson is in Clinton's column. Spitzer was a Clinton superdelegate but she will lose that vote with his resignation.
Paterson, who said there was no pressure from Obama to switch, relayed a light comment by a mutual friend who said he should flip and endorse Obama, the Illinois senator who hopes to the first black president. Pundits have speculated that if Clinton became president, Paterson could fill her U.S. Senate term.
"I said, `No, that's not why I supported Hillary Clinton,"'
Paterson told Obama. "She and I are very good friends and I think she will be the best president."'
"He laughed. He knows I'm very committed to Sen. Clinton," said Paterson. "When I sign up to support a candidate, it's to the end. I actually supported Custer, but I did leave right before the attack."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)