Out With a Bang

Well, the sad drama is over. Eliot Spitzer officially resigned the New York governorship effective next Monday. The details of the whole mess have been hashed out and rehashed so many times that it seems pointless to dwell on them here. What's clear is that the more that comes out about this the worse it looks for Spitzer.

Compounding all of that is the sense that poetic justice has really been served here. More than anything else that's what seems to stand out the most of this whole thing. Here was the Sheriff of Wall Street, the White Knight of Albany sleeping with a hooker.

In the coming days before everyone loses attention and moves on to the next train wreck we're going to be seeing a lot of speculation about why he did it. The answer is pretty simple. He did it because he was dumb, thought he was smarter than everyone else, and thought he could get away with it.

It's sad because this guy was supposed to be bound for the White House. There was so much potential and promise. Now he really had no choice but to resign. With Democrats scrapping to gain control of the state senate and his once powerful mandate (and credibility) completely shot, there was nowhere for Spitzer to go but out.

Two more notes on this before I wrap up.

First, during New York 1's coverage of the press conference they had the usual talking head commentary about what this all means. On the show was someone who purported to be a friend of the (now ex) governor. He very helpfully put things in perspective by saying something to the effect of: I just hope it doesn't turn out that he was using drugs or sleeping with more than one at a time. Boy, with friends like these no wonder he's out.

Second, my favorite line during his resignation was when he said, "Then I will try once again, outside of politics, to serve the common good and to move toward the ideals and solutions which I believe can build a future of hope and opportunity for us and for our children." Outside of politics. You think?