Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama and New York Governor David Paterson shook hands and spoke briefly today after reports that Obama is uneasy about Paterson’s Democratic candidacy amid sinking poll results.

Paterson greeted Obama at the airport in Albany, New York, before the president spoke about economic innovation at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. The college trains workers for a local computer chip factory, under construction.

The day before, Paterson said, “My plans for 2010 are to run for governor of the state of New York.”

Paterson, 55, said he wouldn’t discuss “confidential conversations” when asked about a New York Times report that Obama administration officials asked him to withdraw.

No one at the White House has ordered Paterson not to run, said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The administration shares the concerns of party leaders in New York that Paterson’s low standing in polls may hurt other Democrats in the 2010 election, the official said.

Obama “has not spoken to me,” Paterson said yesterday. Developing a plan to close a $2.1 billion budget gap in the state’s $131.8 billion spending plan is “the most important issue I’m going to focus on in the next few months,” he said.

Obama Spokesman

Before Obama landed in Albany, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to discuss what message the administration had conveyed to Paterson about the election.

“I think people are aware of the tough situation that the governor of New York is in,” Gibbs said aboard Air Force One. The decision about whether to run is up to Paterson, he said.

It’s not unusual for a president to get involved in state and local politics, he said. “I would not subscribe to the notion that this is new,” Gibbs said.

The Times reported that the administration and New York Democratic Party officials are pushing Paterson, one of only two black state governors in the U.S., because they fear weakness at the top of the ticket might influence other races. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is the other officeholder.

“It’s not just the governorship that’s at stake,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion said in a blog. “Paterson’s pick to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand, also has very shaky numbers” with an approval rating of 26 percent, he said. She faces election in November 2010.

Obama’s message was delivered by Democratic Representative Gregory W. Meeks of Queens, according to the Times. Telephone messages left for Meeks at his offices in New York City and Washington weren’t returned.

Political Future

Paterson’s political future has been discussed as public opinion polls show him trailing other Democrats and losing a hypothetical election contest to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, who has said he is considering seeking the office.

“Presidents are party leaders and part of the job, particularly in first term, is to recruit and make tough decisions,” said independent analyst Charles Cook, Washington- based publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

“The only thing unusual about this is that you have a governor who has no chance of being re-elected who doesn’t seem to take a hint that it’s time to bail out,” Cook said.

In the New York Senate, Democrats hold a 32-30 majority, after winning control of the chamber in 2008 for the first time in 43 years.

New Boundaries

Maintaining that edge in next year’s elections is critical to Democrats, because it would give them an advantage drawing new district boundaries based on 2010 Census results. Democrats hold a wide majority in the Assembly. There are 5.87 million registered Democrats and 2.96 million Republicans in New York, according to the Board of Elections.

New York’s 29-member U.S. House delegation has 26 Democrats and three Republicans, according to the House Clerk’s office. The Republican count includes Representative John McHugh, who has been confirmed as Army secretary in Obama’s administration.

An Aug. 16 Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters showed 59 percent disapproved of the way Paterson is handling the governor’s office. The survey from the Hamden, Connecticut, based school found that voters favor Giuliani over Paterson 53 percent to 33 percent in a potential gubernatorial race. If state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo were the Democratic candidate, he would beat Giuliani 48 percent to 39 percent, according to the poll, which had a 2.4 percentage-point error margin.

Giuliani Considering

Giuliani’s possible candidacy “frightened a lot of people” and his entry to the race may force party leaders to jettison Paterson, said George Arzt, a Democratic political consultant.

The message from the White House is “only three-quarters of a death knell,” and Paterson still may rebound, Arzt said. After the November elections “there will be caucuses around the state, and that is when you could get people going to the governor and saying, ‘You can’t do this,’” Arzt said.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said the message from Obama is something Paterson “should weigh.” Rendell, a Democrat, spoke on CNBC.

Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he was “stunned” the Obama administration would send such a message to Paterson and not to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who has similar approval ratings and trails Republican Christopher Christie in polls before the Nov. 3 election. Steele spoke on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Cuomo Possibility

Cuomo is the son of former Democratic New York Governor Mario Cuomo and has kept his name before the public with investigations of companies making student loans, prices charged by health insurance companies and money managers hired by the state pension fund. For months he has deflected questions about running for governor.

“I’ve been doing my job” and want “to stay away from the politics,” Cuomo said during a radio interview Sept. 18 on WGDJ in Albany. Asked about Paterson’s low standing in the polls, Cuomo said, “These are very difficult times.”

Paterson has confronted growing budget deficits since he became governor in March 2008. He called for a public meeting with lawmakers Sept. 25 to discuss a multiyear solution.

The budget approved in April included unpopular increases in fees for drivers licenses and vehicle registrations, and ended state rebate checks for local property taxes registration.

Paterson Ascendancy

Paterson, a former state senator from Harlem, was elected lieutenant governor in 2006. He moved to the governor’s office in March 2008 when Eliot Spitzer resigned after a federal prostitution investigation. Spitzer wasn’t charged with wrongdoing.

Paterson enjoyed early popularity with his handling of the vacancy created when U.S. Senator Clinton became Secretary of State. He chose first-term U.S. Representative Gillibrand of Hudson, disappointing more experienced congressional Democrats and supporters of Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the slain president, who also sought the job.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Johnston in Washington at Njohnston2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 21, 2009 17:02 EDT