Steve Benen brings up an interesting possibility as far as a replacement for Hillary Clinton in the Senate: Eliot Spitzer.
Ben Smith, who recently suggested Spitzer might be a strong candidate to succeed Hillary Clinton in the Senate, argued yesterday that a purely intellectual approach may not be sufficient to restore Spitzer’s name. Ben said the former governor may need a few “soft-focus interviews about his personal transgressions” to help the rehabilitation along.
Perhaps, but wouldn’t it better if Spitzer’s obvious expertise were considered by the political world on the merits? I can appreciate how sleazy his sex scandal was, but it was hardly more offensive than David Vitter’s, Newt Gingrich’s, or Rudy Giuliani’s, and they’re all prominent political figures and Republicans in good standing.
Spitzer made a humiliating personal mistake, and he’s paid a high price. Maybe, as a sign of cultural maturity, we can get past this and start taking Spitzer seriously again.
The way I see, Eliot Spitzer, by commiting adultery and hiring a prostitute, did something which New Yorkers (and most of the political world) felt precluded him from continuing to be Governor of the Empire State. But that problem clearly does not exist in the US Senate. David Vitter also was revealed to have frequented prostitutes (his diaper fetish was also revealed). Neither of these things lead to his expulsion from the Senate, nor even reprimand from the Senate Ethics Committee. If what Spitzer did was unforgiveable in New York, it is eminently forgiveable in the US Senate. While I don’t have any great preference for Spitzer over any other scandal-free candidate to replace Clinton, it’s clear that his personal problems should not prevent him from being considered.
Hold Fast 
The argument is true only as far as it goes: as the scandal revealed in painful detail, Spitzer was a politician whose arrogance, hypocrisy and poor judgment left him with no friends when a personal transgression was exposed – unlike Bill Clinton. There are numerous other Democrats in New York who are better politicians, have better politics and do not have the baggage which would permit a Vitter to argue that “everybody does it.” Is the Democratic Party so bereft of talent that we have to re-cycle Elliot?
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No. I really just see this as a thought exercise. I don’t think Spitzer should get Clinton’s seat, but I also don’t think there’s any reason why he shouldn’t be rehabilitating himself.
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Spitzer has an editorial in Slate on the financial breakup. That’s a better rehab role than the US Senate.
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I cannot see Spitzer running for office again; he did not have too man friends to begin with, and he was absolutely humiliated in that scandal, it is hard to come back from that.
Spitzer’s column debut, on the other hand, was great, but check out the comments, they are VICIOUS. We’ll see how long he keeps writing and how long Slate let’s the experiment continue. It could be a short-lived comeback for Spitzer. . .
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The point is: IOKIYAR
Nice post, MBH
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