Scott Stringer Wins Dem Primary For NYC Comptroller, Former Gov. Spitzer Concedes

I was leaning towards Spitzer until his campaign came up with that NAMBLA bullshit against Stringer.

NEW YORK CITY: Eliot Spitzer Slams Scott Stringer Over 1996 NAMBLA Vote

The campaign for New York City comptroller took an especially ugly turn yesterday when the lawyer for former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer slammed rival candidate Scott Stringer for a 1996 vote Stringer made as a state assemblyman against the revocation of NAMBLA's non-profit status. According to the New York Daily News, NAMBLA registered with the state under the name Zymurgy and once lawmakers learned of the group's true identity, a bill to revoke its non-profit status was passed, but Stringer and 18 other members of the Assembly voted against it.

Stringer spokeswoman Audrey Gelman said Monday that Stringer believes “NAMBLA and groups like it are abhorrent and disgusting” — but that he “voted to protect the Constitution.” “He and 18 other progressive members of the state Legislature voted on constitutional grounds that the Legislature should not be freely and subjectively revoking the nonprofit status of groups, (believing) it would be a slippery slope that could lead to targeting of group based on their political views,” she said. Aides to Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, also pointed out that he has voted to toughen penalties for sexual crimes against children.

Martin Connor, a former Democratic state senator from Manhattan who is now Spitzer’s campaign lawyer, said he voted for the Zymurgy bill and Stringer should have, too. “It’s one thing if you’ve got an organization that’s advocating communism; they’re advocating a political view," he said. “But NAMBLA? What if you had an organization advocating murder? Why would you give them a tax exemption? It’s beyond the pale.” The Spitzer campaign on Monday tried to turn the tables on Stringer, who has repeatedly bashed Spitzer for having to resign as governor because of a prostitution scandal.

Then Gov. George Pataki had attempted to yank the non-profit status of Zymurgy by direct order, but that action was blocked by a court, prompting the legislation which Pataki then signed.

Dead Heat In NYC Comptroller Race

In more surprising polling news, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has wiped out former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's big lead in the race for NYC comptroller.

The entire political and media world has jumped on Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's bandwagon, helping him poll-vault from 19 points down to dead even in just two weeks," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The black vote, which has shifted dramatically in the last two weeks, still tips to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Stringer holds a big lead among white voters. Did the avalanche of media criticism knock Spitzer out of the lead? Among self-described 'very liberal' voters, Stringer is way ahead. He leads among the college-educated, while Spitzer leads among those without a college degree." Likely Democratic primary voters who describe themselves as "very liberal" back Stringer 60 - 35 percent. "Somewhat liberal" Democrats back Spitzer 51 - 40 percent while moderate or conservative Democrats are divided, 47 percent for Spitzer and 44 percent for Stringer.

RELATED: A poll released yesterday similarly revealed that Public Advocate Bill De Blasio has soared to a 15-point lead over Christine Quinn in the mayoral race.

NYC Tabloids Slam Eliot Spitzer

New Wall Street Journal-NBC Poll

From the Wall Street Journal:

With nine candidates on the Democratic primary ballot, there is next to no chance anyone will win the contest outright, and so the top candidates have focused their efforts on securing a spot in the runoff. While Ms. Quinn has spent most of the race as the front-runner, the poll showed she will be the underdog in a runoff, Mr. Miringoff said. In a hypothetical face-off with Mr. de Blasio, he leads against Ms. Quinn 44% to 42% among registered democrats. If the runoff were between Mr. Thompson and Ms. Quinn, he leads 44% to 43%. Mr. de Blasio would also beat Mr. Thompson in a runoff, 44% to 36%, the poll showed. The margins in all three cases were slightly wider among likely voters.

The primary is in three weeks.

Eliot Spitzer's New Campaign Ad

First line: "Look, I failed big time."

Spitzer Leads NYC Comptroller Poll

Last night, twenty minutes before the 11PM deadline, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer turned in nearly ten times the required petition signatures to make the ballot for New York City comptroller. Primarily on the strength of his name recognition (for better or worse) he's already leading in a favorability poll against Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer.

In the new poll, taken Monday and Tuesday, 67 percent of Democrats said he deserved a second chance, and 44 percent said he was a changed man. Nearly two-thirds said his scandal mattered little to the race, or not at all. He also enjoys a healthy favorability rating, with 46 percent of Democrats saying they had a positive opinion of him, compared to 40 percent saying the same of  Stringer. The poll of 536 registered Democrats has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Voters were asked which scandal -- Spitzer's or Weiner's -- was worse, and the responses were nearly evenly split. Thirty-one percent said Weiner sending lewd pictures over Twitter was more egregious, and 29 percent chose Spitzer's involvement in prostitution. Nineteen percent said the two scandals were equally reprehensible, while 13 percent said neither was offensive.  Stringer, who until this week seemed to have a lock on his party's nomination, has his own work to do. Forty-three percent of Democrats polled said that they'd never heard of him or were unsure what they thought of him.

Stringer already has the endorsements of virtually all of the city's major labor unions as well as most of the members of the Democratic delegations to Congress and the state legislature.

Today's New York Post

This morning I mentioned that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will be running for city comptroller. Not mentioned in my first post on this news is that one of Spitzer's opponents will be Kristin Davis, the madam that claims to have provided "Client Number Nine" with some of his hookers.

“I’ve been waiting for my day to face [Spitzer] for five years,” Davis said. “I sat ... in Rikers Island, I came out penniless and nothing happened to him. The hypocrisy there is huge.” Davis, who is running as a Libertarian, says her escort service supplied Spitzer prostitutes, a claim which has never been verified. On her campaign website, she describes herself as "a feminist, entrepreneur, and former Wall Street Hedge Fund Vice President" who has the "financial management and business experience to be an effective fiscal watchdog for the New York taxpayer." She also says she's the only candidate who supports the legalization and taxation of marijuana in order to close NYC's budget deficit.

Davis says this will be "the funnest campaign ever."  Anthony Weiner must be doing cartwheels.

Spitzer: I'm Running For NYC Comptroller

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 while in the midst of a prostitution scandal, has announced his candidacy for New York City comptroller.

Spitzer, 54, sounding restless after an unwelcome hiatus from government, said he had re-envisioned the often-overlooked office and yearned to resurrect the kind of aggressive role he played as New York State’s attorney general. He said that after consulting with his family and taking the temperature of the city’s ever-candid electorate, he believed New Yorkers would be open to his candidacy. “I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it,” he said in the telephone interview on Sunday night. His re-emergence 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 that voters seem receptive to those who seek forgiveness and redemption.

Spitzer faces a strong opponent in Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, whom most had predicted would glide to an easy win. According to the New York Times, Spitzer is expected to spend millions of his own money to seek the comptroller position and will not accept sharing funds from the city's campaign finance system.

Richard Socarides And Wayne Besen Discuss Marriage Equality And SCOTUS

Parker & Spitzer On Navy Video Flap

Quote Of The Day - Kristin Davis

"Why should the only woman running for state office be excluded? The debate shouldn't be a boys only club. Excluding blacks and women just because we lack access to huge special interest campaign contributions is just wrong. I favor letting all legal candidates debate. I earned my place on the ballot by filing over 22,000 valid voter signatures. I am a protest candidate, but I am a serious candidate." - Ex-madam Kristin Davis (in the camouflage pants above), complaining that she has not been included in the upcoming New York gubernatorial debates between AG Andrew Cuomo and teabagger whackadoodle Carl Paladino. Davis, who claims former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer among her former clients, wants to legalize prostitution and marijuana in New York state.

(Via - Gothamist)

Eliot Spitzer Lands CNN Gig

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who in 2008 dragged his scowling wife before the cameras to resign in a prostitution scandal, has been hired to host a new primetime show on CNN.

CNN announced Wednesday that it had hired former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and conservative columnist Kathleen Parker to helm a new point-counterpoint show in the key 8 p.m. ET hour, recruiting two headstrong political figures in a bid to revive its flagging viewership. The network described the new program as a "spirited, nightly roundtable discussion program" that will be focused on the biggest stories of the day. "Other cable news channels force-feed viewers one narrow, predictable point of view; in contrast, CNN will be offering a lively roundup of all the best ideas -- presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country," CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein said in a statement. "Eliot and Kathleen are beholden to no vested interest -- in fact, quite the opposite: They are renowned for taking on the most powerful targets and most important causes."

Spitzer's exposure as a patron of high-priced hookers came after he'd spearheaded an anti-prostitution campaign as state Attorney General. Reportedly Spitzer was "insatiable," sometimes requesting more than one girl in a night. He also liked to keep his socks on. Spitzer's most infamous call girl, Ashley Dupre, finagled her notoriety into a career as a pop singer and sex advice columnist for the New York Post.

Harold Ford Pleads His Case

After charges of flip-flopping and carpetbagging rained down on him yesterday, today former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford (D) took to the op-ed pages of the New York Post to bolster his cause to unseat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

I am pro-choice -- have always been since I entered politics almost 15 years ago. My cumulative grade with NARAL during 10 years in Congress was right at 80 percent. Any assertions to the contrary are false. I remain committed to promoting gun safety and handgun control, and I look forward to working with Mayor Bloomberg and Newark Mayor Corey Booker and their coalition to reduce handgun violence in cities across America. Despite what critics say about me, I enjoyed uninterrupted support from organized labor throughout my time in Congress. And from the moment I arrived in Congress, I supported civil unions. Like New York's senior senator, after listening to and participating in the national conversation about full equality and fairness, I support same-sex marriage.

Perhaps heralding his long-rumored return to New York politics, disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer yesterday attacked Gov. David Paterson for appointing Gillibrand and criticized Democratic leadership for discouraging others to run against her.

Ask Ashley

Ashely Dupree, the hooker at the center of former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer's downfall, has been given a weekly sex advice column in the New York Post.

In a video announcing her new job posted by the paper, she dons office wear and glasses to explain her new advisory position in between posing for a photo shoot. “I used to be on the front page of the New York Post. Now, I"m writing for it,” she said. “Ask me anything about love, sex and relationships. “Take it from me, someone who could have used a little advice in the past — there’s nothing better than learning from someone else’s experiences,” she concluded. Ashley has returned to the limelight recently to slam Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses, even appearing on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” and speaking out to the Post in recent weeks. “Here you have all these girls accepting gifts, money, trips from Tiger in exchange for sex — all the while knowing he is married,” she previously told the New York Post. “And now they all can’t wait to tell their stories in exchange for even more money from the tabloids? And I was the hooker? At least I kept my mouth shut.”

"Dear Ashley, my husband's friends keep teasing him about his beard. He is clean-shaven! What's that about? - Signed, Totally Not From Tallahassee."

Say It Ain't Ho!

The New York Post delivers one of its typically classic headlines today as speculation about the return of Eliot Spitzer to statewide office heats up.

Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand, sources said. The hooker-happy Democrat has also discussed his own halfway-decent poll numbers in recent surveys, which have shown him more popular than Gov. Paterson, whose own numbers have tanked.

Senator Spitzer? Say it ain't ho, indeed.

Spitzer On Prostitution

Disgraced former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer doesn't think he's the right person to ask if prostitution should be legalized. Oh, come on. Who else to ask but a person who both relentlessly prosecuted organized prostitution AND patronized it?

Spitzer 2010. Seriously.

Disgraced former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer is reportedly planning on running for state Attorney General in 2010 when current AG Andrew Cuomo runs for governor. Seriously. Spitzer: "My record as governor was disappointing, but the voters will remember my excellent two terms as attorney general."

By "disappointing" he means "hookers, wire fraud, Troopergate, Ashley Dupree."

Was Wall Street Behind Spitzer's Downfall?

The Sunday Times is speculating that Eliot Spitzer's downfall might have been orchestrated by Wall Street bankers angry with Spitzer's vigorous pursuit of white-collar criminals. Both of the banks that reported Spitzer's money transfers (which proved to be payments to the Emperors VIP Club) had been the subject of investigations by Spitzer's office.

When the case against the one man and three women accused of running the international network reached court earlier this month, it was the presence of a federal prosecutor from the political corruption squad that first alerted New York Times reporters to the possibility that a politician might be involved.

It has since been established that both North Fork and HSBC were on the receiving end of Spitzer investigations in his days as attorney-general. In 2003 North Fork was obliged to refund $20,000 to dozens of home-owners after Spitzer claimed that the bank had been charging illegal fees.

No evidence has been produced that the bank reporting of Spitzer’s transactions was maliciously intended, yet Dershowitz and other commentators have noted that the system was designed to ferret out drug dealers, the mafia, terrorists and major financial fraud.

“Once federal authorities concluded that the ‘suspicious financial transactions’ attributed to Mr Spitzer did not fit any of [these categories], they should have closed the investigation,” said Dershowitz.

I'll wager that we hear a lot more of this angle.

America's Next Top Ho Model

Eliot Spitzer's last hooker hook-up, would-be pop star Ashley Dupre', is turning into quite the media darling. Her MySpace page has had millions of hits, her name is now in Google's top-searched list, and she's had offers from Hustler, Penthouse, and Playboy.

Dupre's rushed-out single, Move Ya Body, is already getting nonstop play on NYC radio. You can preview the single here. Sounds kinda Britney-y to me.

A lyrical sample:
Drag me around and make me go insane.
Can you make my temperature scream?
Need your hands all over me,
Make me nasty show me what you need.
Bend me over take me there, to your world , grab my hair.
Put it like you want it, toss me all around.
Show me how you get down…

I love America.