By Howard Koplowitz
Paterson initially told his aide the call could wait, explaining that he was meeting with the minority leader. But the aide told him, “You really need to take this call,” Smith recalled.Excusing himself from the room, Paterson returned to the office with his chief of staff and looked at Smith.”They were as pale as this desk in a pale and stoic look,” Smith said, knocking on the desk at his St. Albans office during an interview Sunday.He initially thought the call was about a personal matter involving Paterson. He was wrong. Then he thought the call was about him. Wrong again.Smith said he was then told that the governor might have to resign. “I knew [at that moment] that this was going to be one of the most challenging periods in New York State government,” Smith said. “The immediate thought is shock.”That afternoon, Spitzer responded to reports that he was implicated in connection to a high-priced prostitution ring by apologizing to his family and the public from his Manhattan office. He took the next two days to consider his resignation before making the announcement public March 12.”It's been a very somber mood” in Albany, Smith said. “At the same time, there is a sense of anticipation that the state will begin to move forward.”Smith described his relationship with Paterson, his predecessor as minority leader in the Senate, as “personal friends for a very long time.””David is very clear about the direction he wants to move this state,” he said. “I have undaunted confidence in his ability.”Paterson's ascension to the governorship Monday made the lieutenant governor's office officially vacant until 2010. But Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Saratoga Springs) will “perform all the duties of lieutenant governor,” according to the state constitution. Bruno has asserted that part of those duties include breaking tie votes in the state Senate, which is part of the lieutenant governor's role. But Smith said lawyers in his office “are looking at” the legality of such an action and argued that Bruno should not be able to break tie votes.”There's no reason for us to believe he has two votes,” Smith said Ð one as a senator and another in performing the lieutenant governor's duty to break a tie. “That would be the height of hypocrisy.”Republicans currently hold a one-seat majority in the Senate and outnumber Democrats 42-40.Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer waged an aggressive effort to help Democrats overtake the chamber, but Smith said Paterson should concentrate on governing rather than politics at the moment.”I think David should focus on running the government,” Smith said. “He has a lot of challenges.”He downplayed how Spitzer's involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring would affect Democrats' chances of gaining a majority in the Senate, noting that the former governor already had a weak 28 percent approval rating when his party won an upstate seat last month that lowered the Republican majority to one seat.”Our plan [to control the Senate] was never put together with the governor in mind,” Smith said, but cautioned that does not mean Paterson's help is unwanted.He said it was the Senate Democrats' “operational team” that worked on winning the seat as well as $1 million in funds from his caucus. He said Spitzer provided $500,000.”Our plan is still full steam ahead,” he said.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
