Obama asks NY Gov Patterson not to run

Wow. This seems like big news in the sense that it's so unusual.

I don't know if the "request" is that unusual, but a coordinated feed to the press sure seems to be. Does making it public mean that Patterson rebuffed the first private entreaties?

“The message the White House wanted to send — that it wants Paterson to step aside — was delivered,” said the Democratic operative... “He is resistant.”

Just wow.

Later: Heard on NPR this afternoon that Patterson was rejecting the entreaty.

The ridiculous thing is, this public message will scare off most of Patterson's donors and all of his political support. What base does he think he's going to run on?

Later Still: Reuters has Patterson saying "I'm still running."