Weiner was receiving favorable news coverage and a friendly reception on the campaign trail, so Spitzer figured why the hell not jump into the race for comptroller and try and resurrect his own political career.
Spitzer and Weiner were connected this campaign cycle even before the revelations that Anthony Weiner was less than forthcoming about his sexting behavior broke this week.
At first when Spitzer jumped into the race, the connection between he and Weiner helped him.
After all, if Weiner could be making such a good showing on the campaign trail post-scandal, with some polls showing him leading the Democratic primary contest and voters saying they could envision him as mayor, didn't that bode well for Spitzer's chances in the comptroller's race?
And indeed, polls taken after Spitzer entered the race showed him leading his opponent, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, by a double digit margin.
But now that voters have been confronted with new pictures of Anthony Weiner's penis that Weiner sent over the Internet to a stranger just last year, when he was already devising a run for mayor, the connection between Spitzer and Weiner is no longer helping Eliot:
It has come to this in New York City’s election — a reporter asked Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday whether he has slept with prostitutes since resigning as governor.
“Absolutely not,” Spitzer said as he greeted morning commuters on Staten Island. He added, “I’m done answering this question."
...
Spitzer found his political comeback overshadowed this week by the new sexting scandal buffeting former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s mayoral dreams.
But Spitzer could not leave his own scandalous past behind.
Some analysts said Weiner’s new troubles pose a risk to Spitzer’s campaign for city controller, by reminding voters of the bad-boy behavior that got Spitzer into hot water and raising questions in the minds of voters whether he has changed his ways.
Spitzer was forced to step down as governor in 2008 amid revelations he used the services of high-priced call girls.
“I think when people think about it, they’ll ask, ‘How do we know Spitzer is over his problem? Did this leopard change his spots? Maybe he’s just like Weiner,’” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Spitzer took pains Wednesday to distance himself from Weiner’s sexcapades
The question is, given the scandal connection between the two, can Spitzer really distance himself from Weiner's sexcapades?
Spitzer is a lot smarter than Weiner so you would think he's smart enough to know if he was still hiring prostitutes post-resignation that would pose a problem for him in this race - especially because unlike Weiner, Spitzer has a dedicated cadre of Wall Street people, hedge fundies, and union leaders who hate his guts and are looking to destroy him.
He has to know that they've hired detectives to look into him and dig up any dirt they can use to torpedo his bid for comptroller.
That said, Spitzer is also as arrogant a man as Weiner and his behavior as governor suggests he may be as pathological as Weiner as well, since he had to know his reckless behavior hiring hookers when he was governor would eventually be exposed given how many enemies he has and how badly his governorship was going.
So, let's ask the question again:
Has Eliot Spitzer hired any prostitutes since he resigned his governorship back in 2008?
He is on record now unequivocally saying he has not.
But he's also on record saying that he's not going to answer that question anymore.
That kind of defiance around the prostitute issue raises more questions, however, and suggests that Eliot may not be as genuine and truthful as he wants us to think he is being over this matter.
Weiner has played fast and loose with the truth, claiming he told the public more sexting photos and text would surface but neglecting to note that these would be photos and sexts sent after his resignation from Congress.
The way Spitzer is responding to these questions around his use of prostitutes, now defiantly saying he won't answer the prostitute question as if it's actually an affront for anybody to ask it after we have learned of Weiner's post-resignation sexting adventures, smells fishy and suggests he may be hiding something here.
If I'm right about this and he is hiding something or playing fast and loose with the truth around his use of prostitutes, that will come out in the end.
Spitzer's has lot of enemies who want to do him in, so if he is hiding something or lying, we'll know soon enough.
But if I were him and I were trying to distance myself from Weiner and convince the public that I had truly rehabilitated myself post-resignation, I don't think I would get so testy and defensive when people ask legitimate questions over when I stopped hiring prostitutes.
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