SNL: Using Politics to Regain Legitimacy

Not sure if you've seen, but FOX and NBC/ Universal have put up all their television shows and movies on the site hulu.com, assuring I will miss the Dean's list semester.

Recently, Saturday Night Live raised eyebrows when host Tina Fey endorsed Hillary Clinton, and poked fun at the media's love affair with Barack Obama. What followed was tougher media coverage of the Illinois Senator, and Clinton victories in Ohio and Texas.

Well, perhaps to even things out, SNL had another former cast member, Fey's 30 Rock co-star Tracy Morgan on the show this week to talk about Obama.



The show also had a moderately funny sketch about Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace, and showed him going from public interest crusader to governor (back?) to sleezebag attorney.

Letterman: Top 10 Eliot Spitzer Excuses

Virgin Mobile Uses Politics

Virgin Mobile Canada debuted these advertisement, poking fun at the embattled Eliot Spitzer, or "Client #9."

They also have a an ad with a thought bubble over Hillary Clinton thinking, "I wish my bill wasn't so out of control." I'm on the lookout for that...

Quote of the Day 3/12

"I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New Yorker, and all those who believed in what I tried to stand for- I sincerely apologize."

- Soon- to- be former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, resigning from office in a press conference this afternoon, effective Monday.

Yikes: NY Gov. Named in Prostitution Ring, may Resign

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, whose campaign I once worked on, may be at the center of a sex scandal. The New York Times reports that Governor Spitzer, who championed ethics as Attorney General and vowed to reform state government, could be named in the sting of a high class prostitute ring.

The ring served clients in New York, Washington, Miami, Paris and London, and charged anywhere from $1000 - $5500/ hour.

This event is the exclamation point on a disappointing run for Spitzer. He's squabbled with Republican leadership in the state house, and had petty controversies over the use of state troopers.

Spitzer also proposed the bill to give driver's licenses to New York's illegal immigrants, which NY Sen. Hillary Clinton half-heatedly defended during a Democratic debate, leading to her slide in the polls. The idea died after polls showed it had the support of only 24% of New Yorkers.

After being elected with nearly 70% of the vote in to his first term in 2006, Spizter will almost certainly face a fierce competition against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010. To beat the popular mayor, Spizter needed a couple of signature legislative accomplishments, but a scandal like this could render such triumphs moot.

However, the impending scandal may not mark the end of his promising political future. There's an old saying in politics that the only ways to commit sure-fire career suicide is to get caught with a dead woman or a live man. But for Spitzer, who is married with three children, that may not be his biggest concern right now.

**Update** ABC reports that Governor Spitzer is resigning from office to settle matters with his family.

NY Times: Spitzer Profile

The New York Times has an interesting profile of NY Governor Elliot Spitzer and his "rough" first year in office. My feelings on the issue are well-trod, so check this out for yourself.

The most interesting part is how Spitzer is trying to reshape his governing style, and essentially his personality. He's gone from focusing on the no-holds-barred style of a Roosevelt or Al Smith, to the more sticks and carrots approach of LBJ.

“I’m not naturally suited to this job, perhaps,” Mr. Spitzer said in the interview. “But maybe, at this point in time, we need someone who is not naturally suited to it to get done the transformative things that the public wants done.”

Spitzer backs off...

NY Governor Elliot Spitzer has backed off his plan to issue drivers licenses to some of New York's 1,000,000 illegal immigrants. "You don't need a stethoscope to hear the pulse of New Yorkers on this issue." 75% of New Yorkers (and 55% of New York Democrats) oppose the plan.

This isn't good for Spitzer, because he takes a loss on an issue he led the way on nationally. It keeps the status quo of his stalled first term as governor.

It's also bad news for Hillary Clinton. Her double-talk during the last debate was on a question about Spitzer's plan (she was for it before she was against it). Clinton said she understood why Spitzer was doing it, and commended him for it, but wouldn't come out and support or denounce the plan. Now that Spitzer pulled it, the Clinton stuff will remain in the news and she looks bad for even halfway backing a plan that went nowhere.

As I've noted, I am a big fan of Spitzer. I worked for his campaign for governor and even met him. But he's had a rough go so far. That brings me to my point: Michael Bloomberg is on the cover of Newsweek this week, under the heading The Billion Dollar Wildcard, speculating about a Bloomberg '08 run for the White House. Like that's never been done before.

Anyway, I don't think Bloomberg will run for president, but I think he wants to be president. He's not going to win in 2008. You don't need two New York mayors running, and a third party isn't going to win, and he's too ambitious and pragmatic to run a wasted effort. So, in 2010, I think Bloomberg will run against Spitzer for governor, and see how the White House shakes out. That makes so much more sense from his point of view. He's the only Republican (once he converts back to the party) who has a shot to beat Spitzer.

One Way to Waste $3M in New York City

The New York Daily News has a front page story today about a Women's Museum that wasn't. In 2000, then- Governor George Pataki proposed a bit of a pet project: A 10 story world class museum in the heart of Battery Park, Manhattan to celebrate the struggle and achievement of women. His wife, Libby, chaired its development committee.

The proposal quickly gained approval, and an estimate of the museum's total costs was $146M, including $27.5M for artifacts, most of which was supposed to come from private donations.

However, seven years later, the proposed site is vacant, $3M of taxpayer money has been spent, and one artifact (a wagon used for women's suffrage rallies in New York City) was purchased. Despite money spent to drum up private donations, only $22,650 was ever raised. Read the article for the ridiculous things taxpayers bought (Flying board members in from around the country, giving them a daily stipend, putting them up at a fancy hotel... for nothing).

Yesterday, New York pulled the plug on the project. Governor Elliot Spitzer and Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced a new school will be built there instead.

According to the News the school is "desperately needed." So the public will see a benefit after all.

As for women's history- maybe the school should be named Susan B. Anthony High. She'd probably have liked that.

So Far, No Good

NY Governor Elliot Spitzer, one of my favorite politicians, has come under fire for some shady dealings by his close aides. For full disclosure's sake, I worked (briefly) on Spitzer's campaign for governor after graduating college, and I admire his toughness, zeal, and willingness to fight the big boys.

Governor Spitzer was elected in a landslide last fall (you're welcome), and went to Albany promising to change a culture of corruption and back-room dealing. He made typical big promises, but because of his record as NY's attorney general, and the mandate of his 40- point victory, I really thought he could deliver.

While there's still plenty of time and promise left in the Spitzer administration, his first seven months in office have been more about a very public rivalry with state senate majority leader Joe Bruno (R), than about policy. Now, a new report from Spitzer's replacement (and political ally), AG Andrew Cuomo, states that Spitzer's aides obtained information about Bruno's use of state police under false pretenses, and used it to run politically damaging stories. If that's not bad enough, the subsequent investigation found Bruno's use of police was entirely proper.

The governor is damaged, and his agenda held up. This loss of mojo has led Republicans to hint that they may want to re-examine the recent deal on campaign finance reform. What's worse is that New York's problems sit unaddressed as the media and politicians concentrate on this dirty, but comparatively meaningless, issue.

The link for the article is here.

On a lighter note, I'll be doing another casting couch post later tonight... don't you just love those?