No, it appears David Paterson won't survive this. The New York governor has told Democratic leaders he won't run for reelection. The New York Daily News--as well as the New York Post--earlier called for his immediate resignation, but his aide says that's not happening. Not going quite as far, Friday's editorial in The New York Times demanded a thorough investigation of the governor. What pushed the Post and the Daily News over the edge? They said he's lost the state's trust and is hopelessly unqualified.

• For Everyone's Sake, Please Leave, writes the New York Daily News editorial board:

Having demeaned his high office, having exposed a character flaw that plays out as a truth deficit, Paterson is punchline rather than punch. He does not have the capacity to confront the state's economic challenges...

It was Paterson who gave David Johnson, a man with a limited professional resume and a history of abuse complaints, an undeserved place at the center of the gubernatorial inner circle.

It was Paterson who - while claiming to be the victim of orchestrated rumors - gave misleading descriptions of an abuse complaint that was lodged and dropped by Johnson's girlfriend.

It was Paterson who spoke with Johnson's girlfriend by phone before she abandoned the prosecution - in which she had said the governor's security detail was pressuring her to be quiet.

• Enough, Governor, writes the New York Post editorial board:

David Paterson is not qualified to be governor of New York. And he can spare the state he has sworn to serve a lot of unnecessary turmoil and pain by simply stepping aside. Without further delay...

The scandal, of course, is just the latest in a string of Paterson fiascos -- ranging from his allegedly politically motivated awarding of a casino contract to months of nonfeasance in the conduct of his daily duties -- that has reduced state government to a sad, shabby joke.

Simply put, David Paterson is unqualified to hold the office he inherited when the equally scandal-scarred Eliot Spitzer resigned it two years ago.

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John Hudson