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Eliot Spitzer
‘Mr. Spitzer Dissed The Sistah’
Oct 27th - 9:00 am
Kristin Davis, AKA the Manhattan Madam who is running for governor on the Anti-Prohibition line, has released a campaign rap song – yup, you read that right – she says was recorded by one of four men who successfully sued former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s father, Bernard, for racial discrimination.
You can listen to the song here. It’s actually pretty catchy, but I’m not exactly a rap aficionado. The rapper goes by the name of “Anthony X.”
According to the Times, one of the men who accused Bernard Spitzer of firing them because of the color of their skin was Anthony Haydenn, who was awarded $200,000 by a jury in 2008 – $100,000 in lost wages, $25,000 for emotional distress and $75,000 in punitive damages.
The refrain from the song, which opens with the line: “This is for Client #9″, is:
“Mr. Spitzer, yo what’s up witcha? Mr. Spitzer, you dissed that sistah, bad karma’s gonna getcha.”
Cherkasky Out
Oct 14th - 3:13 pm
State Commission on Public Integrity Chairman Michael Cherkasky just announced that he will resign effective Jan. 1, 2011 – the first day of the next governor’s tenure.
Cherkasky remains the CEO of Altegrity, a global screening and security solutions company, which recently acquired Kroll, Inc. He said that caused an “increasing number of potential conflicts of interest” and a growing demand on his time that made him realize it would be best for him to depart his public post.
Up to this point, Cherkasky said, he has been recusing himself from cases that would pose a conflict, but that solution is “not a long-term solution.”
“Since joining the Commission, I have been impressed with the commitment of the other Commissioners and the staff to foster public trust in State government in a non-partisan manner, as well as pursuing cases wherever they might lead,” Cherkasky said in a press release.
“When Governor Paterson appointed me to this position last year, I had no idea that one of those cases would lead to him.”
Dupre For Cuomo
Oct 13th - 4:33 pm
Ashley Dupre, or, if you prefer “Kristen” – the woman at the center of the “Client 9″ scandal that forced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign in March 2008, is supporting Andrew Cuomo for governor.
“I’m actually for Cuomo. I am. He seems like the right choice for New York,” Dupre told Daily Intel at a benefit for the Caron rehabilitation center.
No word yet on whether Cuomo will be accepting this latest nod.
Dupre is a far sight more generous in her praise than Spitzer, who not long ago called Cuomo “the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there” on national TV, but also said he’ll be voting for his former political rival anyway.
Dupre also revealed she’s just “living like a normal girl”, but is thinking of writing a book that would be a “cautionary tale” to help other kids avoid making the same mistakes that she did. She’s also hoping to get married and have kids, and insists she doesn’t want fame.
PPP Poll: NYers Wish Spitzer Stuck Around
Oct 8th - 5:19 pm
Public Policy Polling reports that most New Yorkers would have preferred to see former Gov. Eliot Spitzer run the state for the last two years – prostitution scandal notwithstanding – than to spend that time governed by his replacement, David Paterson.
By a 45-28 margin, voters would have preferred Spitzer still be governor. Democrats overwhelmingly chose Spitzer over Paterson, 53-22. Even Republicans and independents went for the former governor over his LG, albeit by smaller margins.
“Eliot Spitzer has been openly flirting with a possible future return to elective office, and
he would probably fare well in a Democratic primary,” said PPP President Dean Debnam.“But the numbers statewide are more an indication that New Yorkers overall would simply prefer anyone else to David Paterson than that they love Spitzer.”
In a list of current and former New York officerholders considered “national figures” by PPP, Hillary Clinton is the best liked, with a 59-36 favorability grade to Rudy Giuliani’s 53-37, Mario Cuomo’s 51-35, Michael Bloomberg’s 43-37, and George Pataki’s 39-37.
Paladino: I Told Spitzer Not To Quit
Oct 3rd - 6:54 pm
Carl Paladino argues in an LA Times profile that the personal failings of elected officials should not be considered when voters are trying to decide whether they’re qualified to hold elected office, and cites former Gov. Eliot Spitzer as an example of someone forced to resign when he should not have.
“”The day before he left I told Eliot, ‘Don’t quit,’” Paladino told the paper’s Geraldine Baum.
“You show me the perfect person. You show me Mr. Perfect out there. Who? Arnold (Schwarzenegger)? The former president, Clinton?…He’s human, Eliot’s human, I’m human.”
Spitzer, who was infamously forced from office in the spring of 2007 by a prostitution scandal, was reportedly urged by a number of people to try to stick it out, including his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer. In the end, however, he had simply angered too many people during his short time in office to have much support in the Democratic Party.
Also, it never has been entirely clear whether Spitzer’s resignation was part of a deal that enabled him to avoid federal charges.
Spitzer has predicted in his new role as a CNN analyst and host that Paladino won’t last and said his anger isn’t constructive.
That’s noting compared to what the former governor has said about his erstwhile political rival, AG Andrew Cuomo, whom Spitzer deemed “the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there,” while also saying he’ll be voting for his fellow Democrat in the general election.
Spitzer: Paladino Will ‘Disappear’
Sep 30th - 1:39 pm
Former governor-turned-CNN commentator/host Eliot Spitzer, who just last week was teeing off on his ertswhile political rival, Andrew Cuomo, predicted today “with some confidence” that the AG will win the November election and his opponent, Carl Paladino, “will then disappear.”
Spitzer, who had his own tangles with The Post’s Fred Dicker (who broke the story that became first scandal of the Spitzer administration, Troopergate), steered clear of weighing in on last night’s Sagamore Smackdown, but did say the footage “looked like something out of Hollywood…like politics the way it was enacted 40 years ago.”
The former governor lamented the fact that the governor’s race has devolved – literally – into little more than a pushing match, saying: “I think it’s too bad that we’re not using this moment to have a real conversation about what the policies should be to bring New York State back to what it used to be, the empire state.”
Spitzer also plugged his new show “Parker/Spitzer”, which starts Monday. One of the first topics of discussion will be privacy and the invasion of privacy, or, as Spitzer put it: “The inability for people to lead a life without everybody staring at them.”
…which, of course, he knows more than a little something about.
Sound Familiar?
Sep 29th - 2:01 pm
A CapTon viewer was struck by Andrew Cuomo’s recitation last night of all the corruption-busting he’s done as the state’s chief law enforcement official and his plan to tell New Yorkers: “You know what I’ve done as attorney general, imagine what I’d do as governor.”
As it turns out, another AG-turned-gubernatorial candidate used a similar catchphrase back in 2006.
Yup. You guessed it, Eliot Spitzer (who, by the way, Cuomo included in his list of scalps, citing the Troopergate report and adding: “To the extent that he was displeased, I did my job.”)
Spitzer’s second TV ad in the 2006 governor’s race featured a collection of headlines touting his AG successes and then this tagline: “Now just imagine what he’d do…as your governor.”
‘I Know E-mails’
Sep 29th - 9:09 am
Several viewers and readers have written in to note that the whole Carl Paladino e-mail scandal raises an interesting question: What about Andrew Cuomo’s on-line communication? Has the Democratic gubernatorial candidate ever sent anything inappropriate out into the ether?
I asked him that question – or tried to – on CapTon last night.
“These were offensive at a minimum right?” Cuomo said of the racist, sexist and pornographic e-mails forwarded by the Buffalo businessman.
“…If you’re in a political campaign, if you send out e-mails to people with these kinds of images don’t be surprised if someone asks you to answer for them, you know? I think that’s every fair indeed. Now the e-mails you send me, don’t worry about. Nobody will ever see those….I know e-mails, Liz, I specialize in e-mails. I do it for a living.”
For the record, as I said last night, I have never sent the AG an e-mail, which would be difficult to do since I don’t have his personal e-mail address.
That “I specialize in e-mails” comment refers, I believe, to the role cyber communications have played in any number of AG investigations. Of course, Eliot Spitzer knew that, too, and it didn’t stop him from being quite prolific in his e-mail communications, which has come back to bite him.
Who You Callin’ Dirty?
Sep 24th - 3:48 pm
Right back atcha, Eliot!
Asked today about the former governor’s slam on CNN yesterday, calling Andrew Cuomo “the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there”, the AG took a little shot of his own at his predecessor and longtime political rival, saying:
“Well, that’s saying something from Eliot Spitzer, huh? Yeah, I think Eliot Spitzer’s record of performance and honor speaks for itself, and so does mine.”
(The second part of that statement is nearly identical to the comment Cuomo’s campaign spokesman, Josh Vlasto, gave reporters yesterday in the wake of Spitzer’s initial slam. The first part is pure Cuomo).
Spitzer has made it clear that while he may not enjoy it, he will be voting for Cuomo to fill the office from which he was ousted by a prostitution scandal.
But Carl Paladino’s camp feels like the former governor did the Buffalo businessman an enormous good turn by taking Cuomo down a few pegs on national TV.
Ash And Egan Out (Updated)
Sep 23rd - 5:36 pm
With just over three months left in his tenure, Gov. David Paterson has lost two more agency heads.
State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash, a Spitzer administration holdover, has resigned her post effective Oct. 13.
UPDATE: State OGS Commissioner John Egan, who also dates back to the Spitzer era and has served seven New York governors, is also departing, effective Oct. 6.
(Sorry for the piecemeal treatment here; I just received the Egan press relase. The governor’s comments on Egan appear after the jump).
“Over the past four years Commissioner Ash has led her agency with dedication, integrity and professionalism,” Paterson said in a press release.
“Despite these extraordinarily challenging times, the Commissioner presided the over construction and opening of the remarkable Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, a very successful U.S. Open Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park and initiated an effort to rebuild and restore the agency’s aging infrastructure.”
Paterson appointed the OPRHP’s executive deputy commissioner, Andy Beers, to the position of acting commissioner. He has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency, as well as overseeing the continuing efforts to revitalize the state parks system.
Prior to taking his current post in 2007, Beers served as deputy state director at the Nature Conservancy.
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