Paterson on McCain's "Community Organizer" Attacks

NY1:

Speaking at a Crain's breakfast Tuesday in Midtown Manhattan, Paterson was asked if he thinks racism will harm Barack Obama's chances of becoming president.

"I think that there are overtones of potential racial coding in the campaign. I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative,” said Paterson. “But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican [National] Convention - a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing, like what does this mean?"

"It means that an individual who could have gone to Wall Street and made a lot of money and then run for office because he could buy media time chose to go back and work in programs in a neighborhood where he thought he could make a difference and became an elected official based on his involvement right in his own community," said Paterson.

McCain's spokesman said in a statement, "It is disappointing that Governor Paterson would launch accusations of racism.... Governor Palin's remarks about Barack Obama's work as a community organizer was in response to the Obama campaign's belittling of her executive experience.... These comments by Governor Paterson are a sure sign of a flailing campaign that is bordering on desperation."