How Does Spitzer Get On The Ballot With This Kind Of Petition Staff?

Eliot Spitzer may lead in the Marist poll released last night, but he's got to have 3,750 signatures by tonight and if this is the staff he's got working for him, it's doubtful he's going to meet the deadline with enough valid signatures:

Racing against the clock, it appears Mr. Spitzer’s signature-gathering operation is showing mixed results, including the strains that come from using hastily-hired staffers as opposed to a well-trained volunteer army.

Columbia University student Eva Kalikoff, for instance, recalled an awkward encounter with two Spitzer canvassers on the Upper West Side.

“You are petitioning for Spitzer? I don’t like that guy,” a bystander on a bike asked one of the petitioners. “I hear you,” the canvasser responded.

When Ms. Kalikoff asked him if he was being paid to canvass on behalf of Mr. Spitzer, the man refused to respond. Walking near 66th and Broadway in the late afternoon, Politicker encountered similarly mute canvassers. When asked about her petitioning, a female Spitzer staffer reluctantly said she had been on the job for a couple of hours and estimated having collected about 25 signatures. A male counterpart refused to comment.

Some petitioners were a bit more forthright.

Ryan Davis, vice president of social news site Vocativ, encountered a young female canvasser for Mr. Spitzer near the Flatiron Building yesterday afternoon. Mr. Davis told Politicker he put his name down on Mr. Spitzer’s behalf, but asked the young woman why she was volunteering for Mr. Spitzer’s campaign. She replied, “I’m being paid, of course.”

Others took to Twitter to spread the message that Mr. Spitzer was providing lucrative incentives to canvas in the hot sun before Thursday’s deadline.

Metro New York reporter Anna Sanders wrote that a “frazzled” canvasser in the East Village said to her, “If you know any registered Democrats in the area, send them my way!” Later she ran into another canvasser outside of her local grocery store who said, “I don’t know how we’re going to do it either,” referring to acquiring the magic number of 3,750 signatures by Thursday.

Other canvassers may not have presented themselves professionally. For instance, Twitter user @WalkerFountain observed, ”A ragged man in sweatpants just approached me in grand central petitioning for spitzer. So #spitzer2013 y’all.”

In an effort to boost his chances, supporters are throwing a “Petitioning Party” on Mr. Spitzer’s behalf this evening at the restaurant Sprig. According to its website, Sprig’s “Entire Space” only fits 130 people.

When Politicker reached out to the restaurant for comment, a staff member said they were unauthorized to talk about tonight’s event. They gave out a number for Mr. Spitzer’s campaign, which didn’t work. A Spitzer spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but said Tuesday that “many” petitioners were out working across the city. “They’ve got to just bang it out,” she said.

If I had to make a bet on whether Spitzer gets the signatures by tonight, I'd have to say no.

Not with that kind of petitioning work going on, not with Stringer ready to challenge each and every signature.

Spitzer should have started this campaign a week earlier.

Then he probably would have made the deadline with ease.

But as things stand now, he's racing against the clock in a beat up Dodge Dart without tires or an engine.

Three days does not seem like enough time to do what he needs to do.

We'll see tonight.