Adieu

Paterson not running for re-election as governor. Apparently, it’s a long way down responsibility road.

One thing worth noting is that, while it will get much less attention (especially nationally), the scandal that seems to have ended Paterson’s political career would in any rational world be considered much more serious than those that have presumably ended the political careers of the likes of Mark Sanford or John Edwards. (Or, although the commercial transaction makes it slightly trickier, Elliot Spitzer.) Without getting in to moral comparisons, abusing the powers of your office to protect a domestic abuser strikes me as much worse than consensual adultery from the standpoint of one’s fitness to stand in office.