Oh boy, yesterday was a SUPER tough day for the political set. 

Aside from the snowstorm that walloped the tri-state area early Friday morning, the big news story here in New York was Governor Paterson formally announcing that he won’t be running for re-election after all. After months of being hounded by the White House, NY tabloids and various interest groups (all carrying pitch forks in one hand, torches in the other), Paterson finally got done in. The one lone strand that tethered Paterson to his office was cut by what other than an ethics scandal. (Rep. Charlie Randell knows something about ethic scandals, too.) 

Among Paterson’s worse critics (and maybe the most pleased about Paterson’s political demise) are New York’s wine stores. The Governor, in grappling with New York’s awe-inspiring debt, reintroduced legislation to allow supermarkets in the state to sell wine. The conflict: Paterson saw $$, thinking about all the new liquor licenses that would be filed if the legislation passed; mom and pop wine shops on the other hand saw liquidation, thinking about Whole Foods and the like moving in on their turf. Paterson ultimately decided against fighting this battle, but the damage was done.  In an effort to "spread the pain around" and get everyone to make sacrifices, Paterson just made adversaries out of everyone. He was a done deal well before President Obama called Albany up to suggest that Paterson pack his bags. 

The President isn’t usually shy about telling candidates, or even potential candidates, when it’s time to get out of the game for the sake of the team. Understandably, he’s a little less unbiased when it comes to his own staff. So, I was really hoping that he wouldn’t allow the media hoopla surrounding the stupidly selfish White House crashers get in the way of what an incredible contribution Social Secretary Desirée Rogers makes to the White House staff. Like, really hoping. So, you can imagine my reaction when I found out that Desiree Rogers will be stepping down next month. So what if she likes to dress up and attend the events she spent so much time planning? And who cares if she likes the glamorous life -- who wouldn’t want to get photo ops in glossy mags or front row seats next to Anna Wintour at fashion shows. Ugh, seriously, the White House just got a little less fabulous.