City Newspaper Archives - 3/2008
SPITZER: The governor must resign
Published by Mary Anna Towler on Mar 10, 2008
In his very brief statement this afternoon, Governor Eliot Spitzer didn't say whether he will resign as a result of the news that he has been "linked" to a prostitution ring. When reporters shouted out that question, he didn't answer.
And in his statement, he seemed to be trying to separate his life as a governor from his personal life. "I want to briefly address a private matter," he said.
If he's thinking about staying on, he's delusional - and more interested in himself than he is in the State of New York.
In his statement, he did not mention the news that the New York Times broke early this afternoon. But he did not deny it. And, he said: "I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right and wrong." He apologized to his family and to the public.
Best I can tell, that's an admission. Given that, there is absolutely no excuse for his continuing in office. Forget about the damage this will do to the state's Democratic Party. The damage to the state and its citizens is enormous; he said in his campaign that he would clean things up. He posed as someone who would try to wipe out New York's image as home of the nation's most dysfunctional government.
Instead, this governor - the state's former attorney general - broke the law.
He should resign, and he should do it today.
