The latest fashion is New York is to brush Governor David Paterson off as not a serious politician and a sure loser in the Democratic primary. Thus almost everything he does often fails to get the coverage, including some of his brave and courageous actions which deserve recognition. Those in the 'know' always dismiss him as one who can't win and thus the discussion should end with that perceived fact.

There is one problem: Governor David Paterson is not buying into being put out to pasture. He continues to be one of the most bold and interesting governors in this nation. Paterson is being exactly what so many of us have said for years that we are looking for in our elected officials. First, the governor powerfully and with dignity stood by the side of the LGBT community. In the special session, he honored his promise to help us get a vote on marriage equality.

That alone would be enough for me. However, he continues to amaze. As governors flounder all over the country in attempt to balance budgets or legislatures refuse to take responsible action, New York's embattled governor has kept the state moving forward. In an Albany that seems to belong to the clowns, he is a serious man. Even the New York Times today strongly praised Governor David Paterson's attempts to force the legislature to be fiscally responsible and his call for strong ethics reforms.

In a lead editorial called: "Some Honesty in Albany" the newspaper gives a point by point run down on Paterson's ideas to get New York moving again and to reform the corrupt politics of Albany. The paper says:

"The full details of his economic plans will become clearer when he presents his budget later this month. But Mr. Paterson made a good start on Wednesday by asking the assembled lawmakers — who mostly looked on sullenly or applauded wanly — to cap spending so Albany can finally get a grip on a deficit that is expected to be about $8 billion this year. “There are more deficits up ahead that will require an even greater sacrifice,” he said.

Mr. Paterson said he directed Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch to create a four-year budget plan to replace the year-by-year recklessness that leaves counties, cities and towns vulnerable to economic downturns like the one now paralyzing them. Among other things, the governor proposed eliminating the costly and increasingly corrupt Empire Zone economic development program, which ended up shuffling jobs around from place to place. He suggested replacing it with a program focused on creating jobs in the high-tech and clean-energy sectors.

But Mr. Paterson went beyond the necessary hard talk about budgets and demanded that legislators “bring fairness and openness to government, which has very little of either.” Albany’s lawmakers should be worried about both of those things, and many swiftly denounced his proposal as an attempt to bolster low poll ratings. That’s fine with us. At this point, anything that forces the State Legislature to confront reality is valuable. "

Take time to read The Times' pointed praise for Paterson's tough and visionary programs. Funny. We often repeat over and over again "if we just had someone willing to take on the vested interests and do what is right." Well, folks, we have someone now like that and his name is Governor David Paterson.