Eliot Spitzer to Seek Ballot Spot in New York City Comptroller Race Spitzer Seeks Ballot for City Comptroller’s Race By MICHAEL BARBARO and DAVID W. CHEN Published: July 7, 2013 Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor of New York five years ago amid a prostitution scandal, is re-entering political life, with a run for the citywide office of comptroller and a hope that voters have forgiven him his... [more]
Eliot Spitzer to Seek Ballot Spot in New York City Comptroller Race
Spitzer Seeks Ballot for City Comptroller’s Race
By MICHAEL BARBARO and DAVID W. CHEN
Published: July 7, 2013
Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor of New York five years ago amid a prostitution scandal, is re-entering political life, with a run for the citywide office of comptroller and a hope that voters have forgiven him his previous misconduct.
In an interview, Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, said that he believes he could make a big impact in the role, and is asking New Yorkers to give him a second chance.
“I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday night.
His re-entry comes in an era when politicians —like Representative Mark Sanford of South Carolina and the New York mayoral contender Anthony D. Weiner — have shown that public disapproval, especially over sexual misconduct, can be fleeting, and voters seem open to those who seek forgiveness and redemption.
Mr. Spitzer, an aggressive watchdog over Wall Street when he served as attorney general, wants to overhaul the sometimes overlooked office into a more activist one, given the power the comptroller exercises over the city’s pension funds and city spending.
“The metaphor is what I did with the attorney general’s office,” he said Sunday night. “It is ripe for greater and more exciting use of the office’s jurisdiction.”
The son of a wealthy real estate developer, Mr. Spitzer intends to pay for his campaign out of his own fortune, forgoing the city’s public financing system.
Mr. Spitzer has little time to waste: To make the primary ballot in September, candidates for citywide office — mayor, comptroller and public advocate — must collect a minimum of 3,750 signatures from registered voters from their political party by Thursday.
With Mr. Spitzer’s name recognition and three million Democrats in the city, this should not be a difficult task to complete, but he plans to flood the streets and supermarkets with some 100 signature gatherers starting Monday.
“I am going to be on the street corners,” he said. “We will be out across the city.”
Mr. Spitzer’s entry promises to shake a comptroller’s contest that, until now, had been viewed as a all-but-certain victory for Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president.
Mr. Spitzer resigned as governor on March 17, 2008, after The New York Times reported he had patronized a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP.
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Seeing Wiener ahead in the polls must have emboldened him.
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Response by NYCMatt
over 12 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
Spitzer is fabulous.
He never should have resigned as governor.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
>He never should have resigned as governor.
But he did.
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Response by NYCMatt
over 12 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
But he shouldn't have.
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Response by wavedeva
over 12 years ago
Posts: 209
Member since: Jan 2006
Mmm,really?! Oh yes he should have resigned. Let's see:
-- Spent $80,000 on prostitutes across state lines.
-- Withdrew large sums of cash to pay for said prostitutes, thereby requiring banks to flag his transactions and trigger an FBI investigation (he was an AG and wasn't aware of this law?).
-- While AG prosecuted people and organizations for prostitution while simultaneously supporting prostitutes and the industry.
-- Conducted this activity after taking oaths as Attorney General and as Governor that he would uphold the law.
The illegality, arrogance, and stupidity of these actions tell me not to vote for Spitzer. A NYT commenter wrote that nurses lose their licenses if they engage in prostitution which is pretty harsh. And I would be remiss if I left out this comment from a Midwesterner, Charles Michener on the matter:
"'Asking forgiveness' - please. Anyone who 'asks' the general public for 'forgiveness' through a New York Times reporter should be automatically barred from serious public life. Are New Yorkers so inured to this sort of narcissistic grandstanding (viz. Anthony Weiner) that they're prepared to take Spitzer at face value? What matters here is not the man's addiction to prostitutes but whether his character, temperament and probity qualify him to oversee the finances of the immensely complex city of New York. On the basis of his previous record of abusive behavior in his role as prosecutor and governor and in his dealings with the press, his political opponents and his wife, I would say no. A desire for personal and professional redemption, not to mention "name recognition," is not a qualification for managing the city's budget, however well it may work for TV commentators. Look elsewhere, New Yorkers."
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Response by NYCMatt
over 12 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
"-- Spent $80,000 on prostitutes across state lines.
-- Withdrew large sums of cash to pay for said prostitutes, thereby requiring banks to flag his transactions and trigger an FBI investigation (he was an AG and wasn't aware of this law?).
-- While AG prosecuted people and organizations for prostitution while simultaneously supporting prostitutes and the industry.
-- Conducted this activity after taking oaths as Attorney General and as Governor that he would uphold the law."
****
It's a bad and stupid law.
Good people don't obey bad laws. Nor should they "uphold" them, either.
Ignored comment.
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Response by wavedeva
over 12 years ago
Posts: 209
Member since: Jan 2006
@NYCMatt
Please. If "It's a bad and stupid law." why didn't he try and repeal it? That's what good people do.
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Response by NYCMatt
over 12 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
Because bad laws don't get repealed until enough good people start breaking them.
It's called civil disobedience.
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Response by rangersfan
over 12 years ago
Posts: 877
Member since: Oct 2009
hahaha, that is priceless. it never occurred to me that spitzer was engaged in civil disobedience for our common good! sprinting to the ballot box....
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
His improper activities began prior to his governorship, so if he felt that his activities warranted resignation as he ultimately did, then he should have not run in the first place and cheated the people of the State of New York out of a qualified, dedicated leader.
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Spitzer was a fantastic A.G. before screwing up as governor
If we can bring back Mark Sanford & Anthony Wiener from the dead, then certainly Spitzer who did a great job prosecuting the bad men, should be given a shot.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
>Spitzer was a fantastic A.G. before screwing up as governor
What was so fantastic about him?
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
For one AIG sideletters and fake reinsurance agreements.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
Oh, that was so important to the State of New York
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
It was. New York has jurisdiction.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
Jurisdiction means simply jurisdiction. It does not mean important.
Ignored comment.
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Response by LICComment
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3610
Member since: Dec 2007
Spitzer did some good as AG before overreaching. As Governor he was awful and a disgrace. In addition to his use of prostitutes, he blew out the budget with wild overspending and he unlawfully used the state police for his own personal political purposes.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
You think his use of prostitutes began first when he became governor?
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Response by GraffitiGrammarian
over 12 years ago
Posts: 687
Member since: Jul 2008
We shouldn't be persecuting people for victimless sex "crimes." People have sex, public figures have sex, and it's about time Americans got over their prudishness.
Good for Spitzer for jumping back in. It gives me hope that Americans might be close to growing up. And NYCMatt is correct -- Spitzer was a great AG.
Not to mention that he is heir to a big real estate fortune. Real estate fans should like him.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
I don't care about his prostitution issues. But he took the top office in the State of New York and made a mockery of it. He wasted the opportunity for the people to elect someone who could hold the position and execute its duties for a full term that we expected and were entitled to. He wasted countless dollars on his vanity election as these activities for which he resigned were ongoing prior to him running. I put him in the same selfish waste of time category as Sarah Palin in Alaska.
That he was a top law enforcement official in NY doing illegal activities is a secondary issue. And the fact that it is prostitution is for me a tertiary issue.
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Response by GraffitiGrammarian
over 12 years ago
Posts: 687
Member since: Jul 2008
I understand, Greensdale. But he has a certain kind of sexual preference, and he's human, so he's going to pursue that preference. And whether we make it legal or illegal is not going to change that.
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
He resigned on his own accord, and insisted he broke no laws. He was never charged with a crime.
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Couldn't care less about a candidate's personal life. With Mark Sanford it only became an issue because he left the state and didn't leave forwarding info in case of state emergency, with Clinton it only became an issue because he perjured himself to congress, and Weiner for lying on TV about it for days.
Fact is Spitzer acted effectively as A.G. and I think he could do the same as comptroller auditing the city budget and its funds. I see the challenges as similar to what he faced when being A.G.
And as far as Albany goes, our capital is corrupt, the state legislature is a joke and everyone in politics or associated with politics knows it.
I would still vote for him in an election against a Republican, but not in a primary and I may vote in the primary to vote against him
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Response by greensdale
over 12 years ago
Posts: 3804
Member since: Sep 2012
You should always vote in your primary.
Ignored comment.
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
This week Eliot Spitzer re-emerged as what he was five years ago: depending on how you look at him, either the most effective or the most dangerous politician in the US. Well before the financial crisis of 2008, New Yorkers liked his dogged prosecutions of those he saw as overpaid bankers and double-dealing insurance brokers.
Would Eliot Spitzer meet the SEC qualifications to be a broker, financial advisor, etc / work on Wall Street? I dont think so. Why would we hire a dishonest man to manage billions for the City?
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Response by caonima
over 12 years ago
Posts: 815
Member since: Apr 2010
good for the public
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Response by Riversider
over 12 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Reuters) - New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner said on Tuesday he will stay in the race despite admitting he sent newly revealed sexually explicit online chats and photos even after he resigned from Congress.
Weiner issued a statement after a gossip website called The Dirty published an interview with an anonymous woman who claimed she had an online relationship with him between July and November 2012.
Seems Anthony Weiner decided to stop sexting about the time he decided to run for Mayor. He apparently didn't think he needed to come clean about his sexting post resignation from congress when he announced his mayoral candidacy. This guy has no credibility. What a putz.
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Seeing Wiener ahead in the polls must have emboldened him.
Spitzer is fabulous.
He never should have resigned as governor.
>He never should have resigned as governor.
But he did.
But he shouldn't have.
Mmm,really?! Oh yes he should have resigned. Let's see:
-- Spent $80,000 on prostitutes across state lines.
-- Withdrew large sums of cash to pay for said prostitutes, thereby requiring banks to flag his transactions and trigger an FBI investigation (he was an AG and wasn't aware of this law?).
-- While AG prosecuted people and organizations for prostitution while simultaneously supporting prostitutes and the industry.
-- Conducted this activity after taking oaths as Attorney General and as Governor that he would uphold the law.
The illegality, arrogance, and stupidity of these actions tell me not to vote for Spitzer. A NYT commenter wrote that nurses lose their licenses if they engage in prostitution which is pretty harsh. And I would be remiss if I left out this comment from a Midwesterner, Charles Michener on the matter:
"'Asking forgiveness' - please. Anyone who 'asks' the general public for 'forgiveness' through a New York Times reporter should be automatically barred from serious public life. Are New Yorkers so inured to this sort of narcissistic grandstanding (viz. Anthony Weiner) that they're prepared to take Spitzer at face value? What matters here is not the man's addiction to prostitutes but whether his character, temperament and probity qualify him to oversee the finances of the immensely complex city of New York. On the basis of his previous record of abusive behavior in his role as prosecutor and governor and in his dealings with the press, his political opponents and his wife, I would say no. A desire for personal and professional redemption, not to mention "name recognition," is not a qualification for managing the city's budget, however well it may work for TV commentators. Look elsewhere, New Yorkers."
"-- Spent $80,000 on prostitutes across state lines.
-- Withdrew large sums of cash to pay for said prostitutes, thereby requiring banks to flag his transactions and trigger an FBI investigation (he was an AG and wasn't aware of this law?).
-- While AG prosecuted people and organizations for prostitution while simultaneously supporting prostitutes and the industry.
-- Conducted this activity after taking oaths as Attorney General and as Governor that he would uphold the law."
****
It's a bad and stupid law.
Good people don't obey bad laws. Nor should they "uphold" them, either.
@NYCMatt
Please. If "It's a bad and stupid law." why didn't he try and repeal it? That's what good people do.
Because bad laws don't get repealed until enough good people start breaking them.
It's called civil disobedience.
hahaha, that is priceless. it never occurred to me that spitzer was engaged in civil disobedience for our common good! sprinting to the ballot box....
His improper activities began prior to his governorship, so if he felt that his activities warranted resignation as he ultimately did, then he should have not run in the first place and cheated the people of the State of New York out of a qualified, dedicated leader.
Spitzer was a fantastic A.G. before screwing up as governor
If we can bring back Mark Sanford & Anthony Wiener from the dead, then certainly Spitzer who did a great job prosecuting the bad men, should be given a shot.
>Spitzer was a fantastic A.G. before screwing up as governor
What was so fantastic about him?
For one AIG sideletters and fake reinsurance agreements.
Oh, that was so important to the State of New York
It was. New York has jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction means simply jurisdiction. It does not mean important.
Spitzer did some good as AG before overreaching. As Governor he was awful and a disgrace. In addition to his use of prostitutes, he blew out the budget with wild overspending and he unlawfully used the state police for his own personal political purposes.
You think his use of prostitutes began first when he became governor?
We shouldn't be persecuting people for victimless sex "crimes." People have sex, public figures have sex, and it's about time Americans got over their prudishness.
Good for Spitzer for jumping back in. It gives me hope that Americans might be close to growing up. And NYCMatt is correct -- Spitzer was a great AG.
Not to mention that he is heir to a big real estate fortune. Real estate fans should like him.
I don't care about his prostitution issues. But he took the top office in the State of New York and made a mockery of it. He wasted the opportunity for the people to elect someone who could hold the position and execute its duties for a full term that we expected and were entitled to. He wasted countless dollars on his vanity election as these activities for which he resigned were ongoing prior to him running. I put him in the same selfish waste of time category as Sarah Palin in Alaska.
That he was a top law enforcement official in NY doing illegal activities is a secondary issue. And the fact that it is prostitution is for me a tertiary issue.
I understand, Greensdale. But he has a certain kind of sexual preference, and he's human, so he's going to pursue that preference. And whether we make it legal or illegal is not going to change that.
He resigned on his own accord, and insisted he broke no laws. He was never charged with a crime.
Couldn't care less about a candidate's personal life. With Mark Sanford it only became an issue because he left the state and didn't leave forwarding info in case of state emergency, with Clinton it only became an issue because he perjured himself to congress, and Weiner for lying on TV about it for days.
Fact is Spitzer acted effectively as A.G. and I think he could do the same as comptroller auditing the city budget and its funds. I see the challenges as similar to what he faced when being A.G.
And as far as Albany goes, our capital is corrupt, the state legislature is a joke and everyone in politics or associated with politics knows it.
isn't one of his hookers running against him??
Yes
it just keeps getting better and better...
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/finally_silda_takes_stand_and_sits_FgqwH2HDrzmBayQ1ugqlFI
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130708/BLOGS01/130709942
I would still vote for him in an election against a Republican, but not in a primary and I may vote in the primary to vote against him
You should always vote in your primary.
This week Eliot Spitzer re-emerged as what he was five years ago: depending on how you look at him, either the most effective or the most dangerous politician in the US. Well before the financial crisis of 2008, New Yorkers liked his dogged prosecutions of those he saw as overpaid bankers and double-dealing insurance brokers.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b24ba7ca-ea20-11e2-913c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2YrxYeK2j
Would Eliot Spitzer meet the SEC qualifications to be a broker, financial advisor, etc / work on Wall Street? I dont think so. Why would we hire a dishonest man to manage billions for the City?
good for the public
Reuters) - New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner said on Tuesday he will stay in the race despite admitting he sent newly revealed sexually explicit online chats and photos even after he resigned from Congress.
Weiner issued a statement after a gossip website called The Dirty published an interview with an anonymous woman who claimed she had an online relationship with him between July and November 2012.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/23/us-usa-politics-weiner-idUSBRE96M0X320130723
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/23/19640828-anthony-weiner-admits-sexting-continued-after-2011-resignation-from-congress
Seems Anthony Weiner decided to stop sexting about the time he decided to run for Mayor. He apparently didn't think he needed to come clean about his sexting post resignation from congress when he announced his mayoral candidacy. This guy has no credibility. What a putz.
The Carlos Danger name of River Sider is Jaime Violence.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/2013/07/carlos_danger_name_generator_use_our_widget_to_get_a_name_like_anthony_weiner.html
Hunters Burg translates to Raul Violence (we are related??), and Jason10006 is Stuttering Retardo.