Gov. David A. Paterson insisted on Sunday that he would continue his campaign for governor, despite urgings from the White House that he step aside for the good of the Democratic Party.

At a parade in Harlem, the governor refused to discuss his conversations with President Obama’s political team, which has made clear to Mr. Paterson in recent days that it has lost confidence in him and does not believe he can be elected next fall.

Asked how he would run as a Democrat without White House support, Mr. Paterson said, “I am running for governor right now. I have no idea — I am a candidate for governor.”

“I have had a number of different conversations with a number of different people,” he added. “They are confidential.”

Still, even as Mr. Paterson publicly vowed to continue, two prominent Democrats who had spoken to him over the weekend described him as mulling his options and open to the possibility of withdrawing. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations were intended to be confidential.

News that the White House had involved itself in the governor’s contest in New York set off wide-ranging reaction on Sunday, and Mr. Paterson’s aides seemed shaken that the discussions with the White House had become public.

The plan to appeal to Mr. Paterson to step aside was proposed by the president’s political team and approved by Mr. Obama.

Some Democrats expressed anger at what they saw as heavy-handed tactics by the presidents political team.

But others, including two members of the state’s Congressional delegation, praised the move, saying something had to be done, given the governor’s potential drag on the ticket next fall.

“I think the president is trying to help, frankly, figure out a solution to a real political dilemma in the state,” said Representative Dan Maffei, a Democrat from the Syracuse area.

Said Representative Michael E. McMahon, a Staten Island Democrat, “As any down-ballot candidate would be, I am very concerned about the top of the ticket, and I am happy that the White House is as concerned as I am.”

The president is scheduled to visit upstate New York on Monday to deliver a speech at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. The governor is planning to attend, along with Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, his potential rival in a primary fight.

New details emerged on Sunday of the White House’s recent communications with Mr. Paterson that underscored the poor relations between them, and the urgency with which the White House was moving.

Last Monday, when Mr. Obama came to Wall Street to deliver a speech on the financial industry, his administration did not invite Mr. Paterson, a conspicuous snub of a fellow Democrat in his own state.

Instead, the White House political director, Patrick Gaspard, met with Mr. Paterson that day and told him that the president had lost confidence in his ability to win the 2010 election, and especially to hold off former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who is weighing a run for governor, according to two Democratic operatives briefed on the conversation.

“It was very explicit,” said one of the operatives, who is based in New York and has close ties to the White House. “He said, ‘I am here at the direction of the president, and we have lost confidence in your ability to run for re-election and win, and we would strongly like you to reconsider. And if you decide to go ahead, you will not have our support.’ “

During the meeting, Mr. Paterson challenged the accuracy of recent public polls that have shown him losing badly in a faceoff with Mr. Giuliani, the operative said, and suggested it was too soon to know whether Mr. Giuliani would be a factor in the race.

Another Democratic operative briefed on the conversation described the message that Mr. Gaspard delivered as: “We want you to stand down. There is no path to success.”

Mr. Paterson was initially taken aback by the message and perplexed by the timing of the appeal, since Mr. Giuliani has indicated he will not decide whether to run until at least November, according to the operative.

Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Paterson declined to comment on the meeting.

The conversation was complicated by history, since Mr. Gaspard, a New York native, has crossed paths with Mr. Paterson before. Before joining the White House, Mr. Gaspard served as political director of 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East, the giant union that battered Mr. Paterson with attack ads over budget cuts shortly after he took over from Gov. Eliot Spitzer last year. The union has also been close to Mr. Cuomo.

Representative Gregory W. Meeks, a close friend of the governor’s who has developed strong relations with the Obama administration, followed up after the meeting, reinforcing the message to Mr. Paterson later that week that the White House wanted him to consider dropping out.

Mr. Meeks had dinner on Friday with Mr. Paterson, State Senator John L. Sampson and Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. at a restaurant on Manhattan’s West Side.

During the dinner, Mr. Paterson indicated that he was prepared to accede to the White House’s desire that he not run, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussion was intended to be private.

The person said that those at the dinner were then surprised on Sunday to see Mr. Paterson vow to continue his campaign, and suggested that the governor may simply be infuriated that the White House had gone public with its wishes.

Still, Mr. Paterson has sent conflicting signals as his inner circle has wrestled in recent weeks with dismal poll numbers and the possibility that the White House or other top Democrats may nudge him to withdraw.

On Thursday, three days after the meeting with Mr. Gaspard, Mr. Paterson announced he was hiring a campaign manager, Richard Fife, a veteran Democratic political operative, and stressed Mr. Fife’s connections to Mr. Obama, though they were minimal: He served last year as a volunteer and convention delegate for the president.

The governor’s fund-raising team has also been working intensely over the past week to press lobbyists and other donors to help him close the lead enjoyed by Mr. Cuomo, who had approximately $10 million in campaign cash to Mr. Paterson’s $5 million, according to the most recent filings.

Mr. Obama’s aides were eager on Sunday to ease any anger over White House involvement in the governor’s contest, stressing that the president and his team would never order Mr. Paterson to step aside and did not have the authority to do so. A senior administration official characterized the message to Mr. Paterson as “there is more to life than being governor.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the communications were supposed to be confidential.

Some New York Democrats are especially sensitive to signs of White House intrusion; the Obama administration helped clear the field of primary challengers for Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand.

“For the White House to allegedly intercede so forcefully at this juncture, that’s surprising,” said H. Carl McCall, a former comptroller and 2002 Democratic nominee for governor. “I will continue to support the governor until he says he’s considering doing something else. That point may come, but it hasn’t yet. And I don’t think the White House should play the lead on that effort.”

Republicans moved to exploit the moment. Appearing on “Face the Nation” on CBS on Sunday, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee and the first African-American to hold that position, criticized Mr. Obama.

“I found that to be stunning, that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for re-election,” Mr. Steele said.

He also questioned why similar pressure was not exerted on Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey.

“I think Governor Paterson’s numbers are about the same as Governor Corzine’s numbers, and yet the president was with Governor Corzine,” Mr. Steele said.