Spitzer, Seeking Political Rebirth, Quickly Hits Establishment Headwind.

[elleng]

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2013, 12:23 AM - Edit history (1)

From corporate boardrooms to the headquarters of the city’s Democratic political campaigns, phone lines lighted up and strategy sessions were organized on Monday with a single mission in mind: stopping Eliot Spitzer. . .

In candid conversations, some of the leaders expressed acute regret over their failure to swiftly undercut the mayoral campaign of former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, another scandal-scarred candidate for citywide office, and said they would not make the same mistake twice.

Behind the scenes, they began to lay out a blueprint for undermining Mr. Spitzer’s bid for comptroller, the city’s third-highest elected office, and for propping up his lesser-known Democratic rival, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president.

They quickly zeroed in on what they claimed were Mr. Spitzer’s vulnerabilities: an out-of-control ego; his lawbreaking patronization of prostitutes, which led to his resignation as governor in 2008; and his combative, go-it-alone style.

Strikingly, Democratic leaders drew parallels between Mr. Spitzer and Mr. Weiner, trying to lump them together as two wayward men obsessed with reclaiming power and unworthy of redemption, in a direct appeal to women voters who may decide the races. . .

In the corridors of finance, executives made little secret of their dismay at the thought of Mr. Spitzer, an often zealous adversary of Wall Street, assuming a job with some authority over the industry. Robert T. Zito, the founder of a brand consulting firm and a former executive at the New York Stock Exchange, which was a relentless target of Mr. Spitzer’s ire over executive pay, put it bluntly: “I would love to see his opponent win.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/nyregion/as-spitzer-campaigns-candidates-and-voters-weigh-in.html?hp

[Lugnut]

1. I'm rooting for Spitzer. n/t

[silvershadow]

2. I hope Spitzer and Weiner both are successful. nt

[ancianita]

3. Spitzer scares the shit out of Wall Street. He and Weiner could kick some ass together.

To win, Spitzer and Weiner can promise the public that they'll get the 'even more corrupt' out of the Establishment, and hopefully, Wall St. They can claim that their legal/political accomplishments are better than those of their opponents. They can both show how they've stood up for fairer, more stringent oversight and regulation. Their personal sexual flaws are, on balance, no reason to keep them from continuing their already well-established work. Everyone knows how cowardly party-line Dems can be toward corporate donors, and voters will welcome some Spitzer/Weiner aggression against do-nothing blustery bullies of their state's party. If elected, and down the road, they'll possibly face off against Christie across the river (although my timeline for that is probably off). That alone would be worth the price of their admission.

[Squinch]

4. Exactly. Anyone who believes it was about the prostitute is a child.