After only eight months gone, Spitzer is trying for a comeback
ALBANY — For a moment, it was almost as if he never disappeared.
There was Eliot Spitzer last week, in his classic take-no-prisoners rhetoric, railing against the “fundamentally flawed status quo” and “ethical abuses” and “concentration of power” in the hands of the few.
Welcome back, Mr. Spitzer, though to a far different sort of public life — this time as a columnist and opinion-shaper.
As the newest columnist for the online daily magazine Slate, the former governor appears to be trying to restore some part of his sullied reputation after revelations about his sexual dalliances forced him to resign just eight months ago. Through his writings, he is seeking to be the voice of reason amid the nation’s financial meltdown.
But, is it too soon?
The pictures of his shaken wife standing at his side during his resignation speech or of his prostitute, who only recently gave her own first TV interview, are still fresh in people’s minds.
Are the scandal’s wounds too raw? And, given how he fell from grace, will anyone listen to Eliot Spitzer lecturing against the evils of Wall Street and corporate greed and ill-advised federal bailouts?
“It seems premature and unseemly, I think, may be the word,” said James Campbell, a political scientist at the University at Buffalo.
Or, as put by one letter writer to the Washington Post, where Spitzer had his first editorial coming-out column last month, “Why do you think your readers are remotely interested in what this unethical person has to say about anything?”
On the surface, Spitzer is emerging from his self-imposed seclusion as the nation’s economic crisis hits. Last week, in his first Slate column, he warned against big federal bailouts of companies that have not reformed their ways, or as he wrote, that are “simply rebuilding the same edifice that just collapsed.”
Never one to mince words, the title of his biweekly column will be “The Best Policy.”
And he has sent a welcome note to President-elect Barack Obama, courtesy of a Washington Post op-ed piece, urging an economic call to action by the incoming administration, complete with ways to do it.
It may be fitting that Spitzer is attempting some form of public reconciliation through the media, the same group that critics say generously helped propel his career to New York’s top government job. But is there more at play?
Are these the writings of a man incapable of staying on the sidelines or of having to prove he is not beaten down? Or might he even have something more in mind, like some sort of comeback down the road?
“He’s terribly frustrated about all the recent developments on Wall Street and the regulatory markets. He feels it would have been his moment had it not been for the downfall he brought upon himself,” said one former Spitzer aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Ultimately, he’d like to be part of the public dialogue again.”
Why does Spitzer think he can offer criticisms of corporate ethical failings considering the way he lost his job?
“Every normal person sees that. But he still continues to think he did nothing wrong,” the former aide said.
The line of damaged politicians who make a return is a long one, and includes Richard Nixon and former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, re-elected after going to jail for a crack cocaine bust while in office.
But those who have known Spitzer for years believe his recent re-emergence is not part of a broader comeback.
“If this was part of a calibrated plan, he’s smart enough to know it’s way too soon,” said another former adviser.
“He’s not trying to become a player in the debate. He’s trying to put out ideas,” the former adviser said.
Spitzer admitted as much at the closing of his Washington Post piece, noting that “mistakes I made in my private life now prevent me from participating in these issues as I have in the past.”
When Spitzer made his resignation speech, he said that after he helped heal his family and himself, “Then I will try once again, outside of politics, to serve the common good.”
Former aides say Spitzer has spent most of his time trying to build up the real estate fortune owned by his father. His wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, has made a few appearances at charity events and recently joined a Manhattan hedge fund.
Slate, which is owned by the Washington Post, approached Spitzer after his op-ed ran in the newspaper.
“He’s very committed to thinking about issues to try to make a contribution. He’s been like that for all the years I’ve known him,” said Cliff Sloan, a Manhattan lawyer who has been close friends with Spitzer since their days at Harvard Law School. Sloan is also the former publisher of Slate.
“And I think Eliot’s perspective will make people think, especially in light of the seriousness and gravity of the issues we’re dealing with now. He has a unique contribution to make right now,” Sloan added.
But critics say anything Spitzer authors right now will cause people either to giggle or be suspicious of the author. They say he is too tainted now.
His backers say that is unfair.
“Judge him on the merits of what he has to say,” Sloan said.
While Campbell, the UB political scientist, is struck by how fast Spitzer has come out of exile, he said the former governor may have chosen an ideal outlet — writing columns.
“Journalists don’t have to be liked. You don’t have to win votes,” he said.
As for any political return, Campbell said politicians who have succeeded in doing that had a built-in constituency, such as Barry, or a certain likability factor, such as Bill Clinton.
“I think likability can pave the way back,” Campbell said, “but that’s something that was short suit for Spitzer.”
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