... Steve Israel took Gov. David Paterson on his surprise Codel to Iraq ... the pair whiled away their marathon trek with talk about the Senate seat. ... The governor will be talking to Steve about his interest in the Senate, and you could say this gives Steve Israel a leg up on Caroline ... The Long Island rep, known as one of the best fundraisers in the New York delegation and a canny operative, has played it cool up to this point, content to be mentioned among the top four candidates, along with Kennedy, AG Andrew Cuomo and Upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand.