The common view of Gov. Paterson is that he’s a slacker, far more interested in the trappings and symbolism of the job than the actual work.

No more. The latest news from Albany shows a different side of Paterson. It shows a man rolling up his sleeves and working hard into the night.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t working on the budget. It looks as though he was working to cover up a possible crime.

Just when you thought Albany couldn’t get any worse, it does. In a flash, he goes from toast to no escape.

He can resign but he can’t hide. He’d better get himself a very good lawyer.

And fast. As one Albany vet put it, “He’s like a 5-foot man in six feet of water.”

Reports in The Post and elsewhere that Paterson directed attempts to silence a woman who accused a top aide of assault put the case in a whole new light. It’s no longer just about what the State Police did or whether aide David Johnson likes to beat up women.

Assuming the reports are correct, it means Paterson was guilty of a baldfaced lie last Friday when he raised his right hand in oath fashion and declared, “I have never abused my office — not now, not ever.”

He had abused his office, and had ordered innocent government employees, from his press secretary to the State Police, to help him. That makes him corrupt, and a corrupter of others, too.

It also means Paterson repeated the mistake that has tripped up so many crooked pols before him: The cover-up is worse than the crime.

It was extra stupid this time, because the alleged assault might not have been a crime at all. The NYPD officers responding to the 911 call saw no injuries to the woman, Sherr-una Booker, and an order of protection was probably the most that would come of her complaint.

So why would Paterson get involved and risk everything to protect Johnson? I see three basic options.

The first is that he acted out of friendship. It’s the least likely explanation, because Paterson had to know he was way out of line to get involved. It carried too much potential downside for a mere favor.

The second option is political expediency, with Paterson trying to make a bad story go away as he was launching an already long-shot campaign. This is certainly possible, though he could have more easily protected himself politically by dumping Johnson when he heard of the alleged assault. That also would have been the right thing to do, given earlier reports about Johnson’s propensity for violence against women.

Option No. 3 is by far the worst scenario for Paterson, but it is the most complete explanation for all his actions. It is that Johnson, who has been glued to Paterson’s side for a decade and grown very powerful, knows more about him than anyone else. And some of what he knows is so unsavory that he could sink his boss if he talks.

It’s a theory, nothing more, but it suggests Paterson concluded the only way to protect himself was to protect Johnson. That meant the domestic-violence case had to go away, and the only way to do that was to get Booker either to retract her claim or simply skip court.

In fact, she did skip court after Paterson and others talked to her, and the case went away. Mission accomplished — until it all unraveled.

Too cynical? Maybe.

Then again, given Paterson’s reckless behavior lately, believing the worst about him is the safest bet. It’s where I’m putting my money.

Revved-up Ford turns into party pooper

If we take the words of Harold Ford Jr., at face value, he decided not to run for the Senate even though he’s confident he could defeat unelected incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand in a primary. There’s a pony in there somewhere.

I’ve never known a pol to walk away from a sure thing. Once they get the itch, they only drop out when they don’t see any way to win.

I reported last week doubts were emerging among some of Ford’s backers. They were concerned he might be too conservative for a New York primary, and Gillibrand was feistier than expected.

In an interview then, Ford insisted to me he wasn’t deterred. He did say he was concerned about the personal tone of the campaign and about how much it would cost — maybe $25 million — but said he was confident he could raise the money, and gave every indication he was ready to launch.

Then he fizzled, saying in an op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times that “the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary” that could hand the seat to a Republican. He repeated that in a call to me later.

It is a strange claim for him to make because it was the same argument Sen. Chuck Schumer made to him as a reason why he shouldn’t run in the first place. He blasted Schumer then, saying a primary would produce the best candidate, not a weak one.

He was right, and proved it by showing that Gillibrand ignored New York by backing President Obama on everything without considering the hometown impact. He cited the tax hikes and added Medicaid costs in the health-care overhaul as a prime example of how her votes were screwing New York.

But now he has bought the party line that puts partisan unity first. What a pity.

MISS-SPEAKER, SHE IS

There were plenty of dumb and dumber things said at last week’s health-care summit, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi wins the Dumbest Award. Her claim that the monstrous package is really a jobs bill that would “almost immediately” put 400,000 Americans to work stands out for sheer nonsense.

If that’s true, why stop there? Why not double the size of the bill and put 800,000 to work? Or triple it?

Oops. Better not give her any ideas. She’s dangerous enough already.

Gowanus further down toilet

There is a saying that nothing is so bad that government bureaucrats can’t make it worse. The big stink over the cleanup at the Gowanus Canal proves the point.

The Brooklyn waterway is polluted, no question, but by declaring it a Superfund site, the feds are pushing aside city efforts. The first casualty is a planned project of 460 apartments that will not be built, said developer Toll Brothers. The final cost to taxpayers will almost certainly be higher than under the city’s plans.

Mayor Bloomberg opposed the takeover, but got the brush-off. Once again and always, Washington knows best.

Disaster tale

A WIRE-SERVICE story included the helpful insight that Secretary of State Clinton’s planned trip to Chile was “overshadowed by a massive earthquake.” Yep, it was definitely inconvenient for her.