The New York Times reports that Obama campaign image managers told New York Governor David Paterson to talk about disability in his speech to the Democratic National Convention — which wasn’t Paterson’s first choice. An excerpt:

Mr. Paterson had hoped to emphasize the poor state of the economy, a central issue on his agenda, during his turn at the lectern on Tuesday. Instead, the campaign persuaded Mr. Paterson, who is legally blind, to talk about his disability, which he often avoids discussing in detail for fear of being pigeonholed as an advocate for the blind.

In the end, he said Wednesday, the response to his speech was generally favorable.

“When I was walking around last night,” he said, “people who had been at both days of the convention said, ‘You were the only one to touch on that subject.’ ”

Paterson stirred protests from disability advocates in Albany last week when he brokered a $1 billion budget cut package that included $1.5 million in cuts for the state’s Center for Disability Rights, as well as cuts in Medicaid healthcare. Even with the cuts, the state’s deficit will be $5.4 billion.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, blindness/visual impairments, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post