Now that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has announced his resignation, and that Lt. Gov. David Paterson will take over the ship of state on Monday, I’ll post a brief conversation I had yesterday with Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who was on the GOP ticket in 2006 for lieutenant governor.
Vanderhoef often crossed paths with Paterson on the campaign trail, and in previous discussions about that experience, Vanderhoef had expressed a positive impression of his former political foe. “He’s very amiable, even in our two-hour debate, it was the proper tone for a debate … he talked about how they were going to pay for things and state policy,” Vanderhoef said during a call yesterday as we anticipated Spitzer’s resignation at some point, pushing Paterson into the governor’s seat.
“He has a wit and a good sense of humor and he’s likable; those are good traits that can be helpful to him in his new test if he becomes governor.”
Vanderhoef pointed out that the lieutenant governor is used to smooth over legislative relations, a switch from the job Paterson will soon find himself in. “Now, he’s there to argue his case for executive budget-making. The differentiation is, he has to provide the executive leadership and not the diplomatic leadership.” The Republican would not comment on whether he believed Paterson was up to that task, but has contrasted his former political adversary’s amiable approach with Spitzer’s steamrolling attitude.
Prior to today’s announcement, Vanderhoef had said Spitzer, as a candidate and as attorney general, emanated a certain attitude. “There’s a set of rules for him and he’s always operated that way.”
After today’s Spitzer press conference, Vanderhoef’s press release made the proper note that it was a “sad day” for our state, and offered his pledge of cooperation with the soon-to-be governor.