Eliot Spitzer Should Just Tell The Truth About This And Move On

Last week I posted that I thought Eliot Spitzer was less than forthcoming when asked questions about whether he had hired any prostitutes since he resigned as New York State governor.

Spitzer was getting defensive about these questions and eventually told the press “I’m done answering this question," which, given Spitzer's history with prostitutes and the circus surrounding Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal 2.0, seemed like stonewalling defiance and wishful thinking.

 At the time I wrote:

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.

 Well, sure enough, just one week later, we learn that Eliot Spitzer is hiding something:

Eliot Spitzer refused today to deny that he has a girlfriend.

The candidate for city comptroller was asked three times at a campaign stop this morning in Brooklyn about persistent rumors he is having an "extra-marital affair."

"I am so tired of the personal attacks and I've answered all those questions," Spitzer said outside the Borough Hall subway station, where he was shaking hands with voters and received an overwhelmingly positive response.

"The public cares about what I did in government. That's what I'm going to be talking about and that's what the public is going to be voting on -- based on what I did in terms of trying to clean up Wall Street, which got a lot more attention than the other things we did.

But the other things we did was just as important."

When the topic came up again, Spitzer insisted voters don't care about his personal life.

"We've said everything we can say about that and these are attacks that are coming out of left field and frankly, you know, the public cares about what the public should care about. The public frankly is a lot smarter in this regard than some folks in the media," he said.

At that point, an aide tried to end the impromptu press conference.

But Spitzer took one more question, when a reporter gave him a chance to "reject" the rumors.

"I have said everything we're going to say about this," Spitzer concluded.

Now having an extra-marital affair is different than hiring prostitutes.

This is not something that needs to be between Spitzer and the police.

This is something between Spitzer, his wife, their rabbi and some lawyers to figure out.

But just as Anthony Weiner should have been completely forthcoming about his sexting habits before he announced for mayor and gotten everything out into the open, Spitzer should have been open about this circumstance when he announced for comptroller.

Instead, like Weiner, Spitzer has played a game of rolling disclosure and cat-and-mouse on this stuff that in the end will come back to bite him.

If Spitzer wants to focus on issues in the comptroller's race, he should just come out with whatever the story is - all of it - and say "That's it, folks.  There's nothing else, we're going to move on now and get back to the issues."

Spitzer hasn't done that, however.

Rather, he's said his marriage is fine even when the tabloids have him staying at his parents' house while his wife stays in the Spitzer family house, he's said there is no validity to the rumors that his wife looking to divorce, he's said that this is all personal and none of it should matter in the election.

He's right about that last part, but alas, given his past history with hookers and Weiner's current travails, good luck getting the press to drop the scent of a Spitzer extra marital affair.

It's probably too late to do a full disclosure without turning the comptroller campaign into more of a circus than it already is.

But had he started out with a full disclosure, he might have been able to avoid some of the pain that is sure to come when this story finally is revealed and his campaign has to play clean-up for a few media cycles.

When will politicians learn that it's not the sex or the sexting or the extra marital affairs that really cause them political and personal headaches - it's trying to keep a straight face while covering that stuff up that does it?

When will humans learn that whatever we run from we are actually running toward?