Politics

This Hurts Hillary

By Matt Cooper

No one in their right mind is going to blame Hillary Clinton for Eliot Spitzer's zipper problem but this still hurts her. But....

This is bad for her at so many levels. Her home state governor, after all, a huge backer of hers and there's no shortage of news clips of her praising him. It likely takes away one of her leading and most persuasive superdelegates should he be forced to resign. But, most of all, the picture of a beleaguered wife standing by a husband admitting to extramarital woes is not one that the Clintons can exactly savor. If people wanted to turn the page on the Clinton era, this can't be very helpful.
My spouse, I note often, works for Clinton.

David Vitter, the Louisiana Senator, survived his accusation of an encounter with a prostitute as did Barney Frank back in the 80s but Spitzer was so identified with law enforcement and so sanctimonious that it's hard to see him surviving. If he does, it'll be because polls show that New Yorkers are willing to forgive him this indiscretion. If he survives, it would be, well, Clintonesque.

Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on March 10, 2008 (boomark / email).