By now you've heard that Eliot Spitzer was caught in a prostitution ring. While this is certainly scandalicious, it's not clear to me how this stacks up to larger crimes that politicians regularly engage in abusing their oaths of office. This is a personal matter, and since Spitzer is a public figure, what is personal is public. But he didn't abuse his office as Governor of New York state, though this is a crime.
Now, I really like Aaron Burr as a historical figure, and he was, shall we say, weak in temptations of the flesh. This though isn't good.
In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.
""This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure," Mr. Spitzer said at the time. "It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring."
Political, the scandal matters because of his early legacy political ineptitude. I had breakfast with a savvy New York politician last week, and Spitzer was referred to as a keystone kop type politician. Many of us had high hopes for Spitzer, and he could still recover if he chooses to hang in there. The Democrats are still picking up state Senate seats fairly regularly, within one seat of a majority and a transformative governing apparatus in New York State. The underlying governing trend is still positive for progressives in New York. Still, Spitzer needs to get his act together. He didn't do so before, and he might be done because of it.
It would be too bad to lose someone of his capacity, but he clearly isn't learning.
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