Haha, we almost put "Officially Quits Race" in the headline, but how can a civil rights leader and symbol of hope/change such as David Paterson quit his own race? Anyway, so much for the dream, the dream of America's first blind black governor. Just 11 months ago, America gathered around its communal browser and held hands and cried, just a little, as it seemed the nation's old wounds had finally healed in the form of this wonderful man and his magical, appointed-by-somebody rise to the highest office in ... Albany. But now it's over, collapsed in a pile of cocaine and whores and thuggish sidekicks, as so many New York political/entertainment careers have collapsed.

What the tabloids reported has become "oh right we'll say it too" truth, via the New York Times: Paterson had dropped out, forever, and Harold Ford can finally be president of NYC, with Julia Allison as his Snow Queen. [New York Times]