Gov. Spitzer Update: Crossing Hillary, Backtracking, and the Return of Spygate


It's been awhile since I updated everyone on my Governor, Eliot Spitzer. His "illegal license" plan has been causing quite a stir in the democratic primary race, but that's all been in the news. My last Spitzer post was about his retaliation against his political opponents, in the form of funding cuts to the poor. He's been busy as a bee since then, and not all of it has been widely reported.



Gov. Spitzer was reeling from the Spygate scandal, when he released his policy. It caught many of his political allies off guard, including Hillary Clinton, showing it for the political distraction ploy it was. It did distract the media, but became too big a story, focusing much negative attention on Spitzer, from both sides of the political aisle. One can only guess how Hillary's campaign expressed their displeasure.



The story, as all NY political dramas do, gets more convoluted. Spitzer is backtracking on the license policy, and one of his former top aides may have lied under oath in the Spygate investigation. His poll numbers continue to plummet, and people are pushing NYC Mayor Bloomberg to run against him, in 3 years (if the Gov. lasts that long in office).



Here's a roundup of stories, with the particulars, from the NY POST. I start from the earliest, so look at the bottom for the latest installments, and this only scratches the surface of their Spitzer archive. (link to complete index here)



MIKE IN THE "NO"



November 2, 2007 - For the first time, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday flatly came out against Gov. Spitzer's plan to allow legal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses - as Hillary Rodham Clinton took fire from both...more



SLOWING DOWN DEMS: HILL WON'T CHOOSE LANE



November 2, 2007 - THE ISSUE: Sen. Clinton's refusal to commit to a position on granting driver's licenses to illegals. This week's debate spelled trouble for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as her continual...more



ADS AIM TO "DRIVE" HILL NUTS



November 3, 2007 - WASHINGTON - In a pair of new Web ads, Hillary Rodham Clinton came under searing attack from rivals in both parties yesterday over her slippery position on whether to give driver's licenses to...more



ELIOT PUTS DYING GOP IN DRIVERS' SEAT



November 5, 2007 - SOMBER Democrats are privately conced ing that Gov. Spitzer's controversial plan to give drivers' licenses to illegal aliens has done the impossible by reviving New York's long-moribund...more



GOV'S PLAN GIVES GOP ELEX BOOST UPSTATE



November 7, 2007 - Upstate Republicans yesterday got an electoral lift from Gov. Spitzer's controversial plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. But the issue played a lesser role on Long...more



DENY THIS, MIKE!



November 7, 2007 - ALBANY - One of the state's most prominent political figures confirmed yesterday that a top aide to Mayor Bloomberg had talked with a leading Republican strategist about Hizzoner running for...more



GOV. FIGHTS "TRICKS" SUBPOENA



November 9, 2007 - ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer yesterday filed legal papers to quash subpoenas issued by a state Senate committee for documents pertaining to the Dirty Tricks Scandal. In exerting executive privilege, the...more



LAWYER DROPS DOPP AMID PERJURY PROBE



November 10, 2007 - ALBANY - The lawyer for the one-time aide to Gov. Spitzer at the center of the Dirty Tricks Scandal abruptly dropped his client yesterday as the Albany district attorney began a probe for possible...more



SPITZER IN LANE CHANGE



November 10, 2007 - Embattled Gov. Spitzer yesterday for the first time pointedly refused to rule out shelving his controversial plan to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. Speaking to reporters in...more



TOP SPITZ MAN TOLD AIDE TO LIE: INSIDER



November 12, 2007 - Gov. Spitzer's former communications di rector, Darren Dopp, asked another Spitzer aide to lie about the origins of the Dirty Tricks Scandal - including the governor's own allegedly extensive...more



DA WILL PUT SPITZ MAN ON THE GRILL



November 13, 2007 - ALBANY - Albany District Attorney David Soares will interview a top aide to Gov. Spitzer later this week about the circumstances under which the aide and two officials helped prepare a sworn...more






This concludes my update on Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Now, I'll give a brief summary of the man that around 70 percent of NY'ers voted for. He is a typical failed politician, having made too many enemies on his way up. He seems to have an abrasive personality, even for a politician. It has all come back to haunt him. When NY'ers turn against someone the way they have with Spitzer, other political knives come out. "Et tu, Hillary?" Maybe, but no-one will ever know. "wink-wink"

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: As I was writing this, Rob Port over at Say Anything (Hat tip) was posting a link to the NY Times, confirming that Gov. Spitzer is "abandoning his plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, saying that opposition is just too overwhelming to move forward with such a policy," to quote. This confirms a huge backtrack, which I believe Imentioned, earlier in this post. Thanks for the timely post, Rob, because I don't read the NY Times!

I did, however, click on the link to the Times' stories on Gov. Spitzer. Want to see their sympathetic coverage of Spitzer? Click HERE.




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