Free Republic

New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson will assume of the role of governor on Monday. He will be New York's first black and first legally blind governor. And he will be left to clean up a mess left by his predecessor. But Paterson is no stranger to adversity. “(He is) very capable, not withstanding his near sightlessness,” former New York City Mayor Edward Koch recently said. “It’s never impeded his public actions or his personal actions, and he’s really overcome it in an extraordinary way.” Paterson, 53, lost most of his sight as an infant when an infection damaged his...

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld drew first blood Thursday against 2006 governor's race front-runner Eliot Spitzer, claiming the Democrat's public persona is based on the power of intimidation... Spitzer "has a marvelous public persona right now, based 100 percent on terror power, the power of ruination," said Weld, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in New York.

BILL Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who now wants to succeed Gov. George Pataki in Albany, enjoys both chess and pool. Both - obviously - are tactical games. Chess calls for seeing the board several moves ahead and pinning down an opponent. Pool requires execution and a vision of where to leave the cue ball to set up the next several shots. Such maneuvering has long served Mr. Weld well in another game he enjoys - politics. Though he might appear to be a long shot in New York, his latest move is exactly the sort of attention-grabbing challenge he...