In New York, incoming Governor David Paterson gave his first news conference Thursday since the resignation of Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer stepped down following the disclosure he was a client of a prostitution ring. At the State House in Albany, Paterson said he is ready to take office.

New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson: “I did not get to this position in the way that most people have, in the way that most people would want. But I made a commitment when I gave my word to Governor Spitzer in January of 2006, when I left as the Democratic Senate leader to be his running mate, that I would be prepared if in event I had to assume authority. I am prepared, and on Monday at 1:00 p.m., I will have the oath of office administered to me in the assembly chamber.”

Paterson will become New York’s first African American governor and the first blind governor in the nation’s history. Later in his news conference, Paterson was jokingly asked if he had visited with prostitutes. He replied, “Only the lobbyists.”