Nassau County Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs on Wednesday officially replaced June O’Neill as the chairman of the state Democratic Committee.
Now Jacobs, who is on the side favored to win nearly ever statewide race, must either whip the party’s rank and file behind unpopular Gov. David Paterson or clear the way for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to head the top of the ticket.
Either way, sources said, he’ll have to be delicate.
One Democratic source said Jacobs would have to be careful not to alienate the African American base of the party. But that source added that the new leader won’t have a choice but to get Paterson to bow out because “his administration is done.”
Another party insider said there’s no reason to worry about angering Paterson’s base because they’ve already deserted him. Polls show Cuomo leads Paterson by a wide margin in every demographic, including African Americans.
For what it’s worth, Jacobs isn’t wallowing. At the Democratic Party’s fall business meeting in Buffalo, the new leader said he’ll have it all figured out by November … 2010.
Paterson, meanwhile, continues to fight the fight, telling reporters gathered in western New York that he could beat former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Paterson also defended his budget decisions, adding that while Giuliani continues to trash the budget, the ex-Mayor hasn’t said a word about “what he would have done.”
Giuliani is considering a run for governor, though his own state party chair, Ed Cox, has said Giuliani would also make a great candidate for Senate, where he would take on rookie Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
