The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer

It all seemed like a great idea initially. Who wouldn't want the heroic attorney general--he who fought big business on Wall Street, started fights with the tobacco industry, and tried to stamp out all forms of corruption in order to protect the common citizen--as the man to lead the state? And thus he was elected in a landslide victory on a platform of change and efficiency. Yet, you couldn't help but wonder if he'd be able to handle the difficult transition to being New York's chief executive...

Perhaps the fact that his open inauguration was a rainout was a sign of things to come. First came the proposal to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, which was met with harsh criticism from a national audience. This was followed-up by the "Troopergate" scandal, which only intensified Republican efforts to discredit him. And of course, the final straw was the revelation that the governor was a member of Emperor's Club VIP; investigators were tipped off by tracking the hefty payments he made for the service. With the media and Joe Bruno leading the charge against him, there was no way the Empire State's highest officer was making his way out of this one alive. And thus, citing family reasons, Elliot Spitzer fell from his position and will probably never be seen in politics again.

I personally have little sympathy for him. Yes, his extra-marital affairs were his own personal business, but the manner in which he executed his plan throws his competence into question. One, individual morality aside, prostitution is still illegal. Two, as a governor who is engaging in illegal activity, don't leave a paper trail of your guilt! If you're not smooth you'll be caught, and I'm not sure that I want the un-smooth to lead my state.

But above all, the hypocrisy kills me the most. Someone who based his whole political career on ending corruption and misdeeds better not get caught participating in what he promised to eliminate. I read an article this morning on why certain politicians survive scandals while others don't. The key is hypocrisy--Bill Clinton had a history of goofing around, so the Monica incident wasn't able to seriously damage his character. But with Spitzer? If you build your entire foundation around righteousness and that foundation suddenly implodes, you have nothing left to stand on.

Game. Set. Match.

(Let this be a lesson to Senator Obama. He's given himself a high bar to stand on, and he's going to see hell if he ever drops below it. On that note, the proper response to Geraldine Ferraro's comments that:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept,"

Would be:

"If Hillary wasn't a Clinton than no one would give damn and I'd have this locked up already."

Well, he'd have to put it a little more eloquently. But you get the picture.)