Gov. Paterson's Troubles

And just like that, Democrat David Paterson, the first African American governor in New York State history and first blind governor in US history, may be facing a crisis on par with the previously dispatched Democrat Eliot Spitzer.

Reports are circulating that Paterson used campaign contributions to pay for the hotel rooms used in his trysts with women.

Governor Paterson's admission he may have used a campaign credit card to pay for a hotel room, but charged it as "constituent services."

While you can snark that he's really into his constituent services and pleasing the people, I'm sure that his contributors and supporters don't think that their money should be going to pay for Paterson's room and board for extramarital affairs.

And it gets worse:

A campaign payment to Lila Kirton, a high-ranking state employee who was one of his paramours, was listed as "professional services" - which is supposed to refer to legal advice, accounting or speechwriting.

Kirton, 49, of White Plains, is the only woman whose name has been confirmed by Albany sources.

She hasn't responded to calls for comment, and co-workers said they didn't see her yesterday at her $150,000-a-year job in Paterson's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where she is a holdover from Eliot Spitzer's administration.

On Tuesday, in an extraordinary Albany news conference, Paterson admitted he'd had affairs with several women, but insisted he never "knowingly" used campaign cash for his trysts. It's illegal to use campaign money for personal expenses.

If Paterson has indeed used campaign contributions in this fashion, it's criminal and could be grounds to see him off. If he used state funds, say hello to Governor Joesph Bruno (R-Rensselaer). That's right, the Republican who is acting Lieutenant Governor at present in addition to his duties as Senate Majority Leader would become the new governor (and would be the icing on the cake since he was the target of Eliot Spitzer's Troopergate kerfuffle). Of course, he's also under investigation for shady dealings, so it may be possible to watch Bruno doing a perp walk before long as well.

It's truly sad that corrupt and dirty New York politicians have to be elected/elevated to Governor of the state to be kicked out of office for misdeeds. And why didn't anyone think of this sooner? The state would be a much improved place had someone thought to start kicking the corrupt politicians over to the Second Floor in the Capitol.

UPDATE:
Some might argue that this is a de minimis violation of state law and that somehow Paterson shouldn't get hammered over it. Well, just because the state law isn't enforced as it should be doesn't mean that it's okay.

UPDATE:
Like I said (ed: and note the name that party game is involved)