Free Republic

Five years after a prostitution scandal forced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer from office, many Democrats appear willing to give him a shot at political redemption, according to a new poll that shows him with a strong lead in the city comptroller race. Spitzer only announced his candidacy Sunday, and it isn't yet clear whether he will gather enough signatures by a Thursday deadline to make the Sept. 10 Democratic primary ballot. But 42 percent of registered Democrats already say they support Spitzer, compared to 33 percent for his potential rival, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, the NBC 4...

Eliot Spitzer choked up today when asked how he’s personally changed since getting caught in a hooker scandal that sunk his governorship five years ago. “A lot of pain. A lot of pain,” Spitzer said, fighting back tears during a grilling on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program.

Eliot Spitzer wants New Yorkers to give him the one thing he has never shown anyone else: forgiveness.

(...) As WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell and CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported, the former governor’s return to the campaign trail was not without hecklers, shouting things such as the following: “Spitzer, you cheated on your wife!” “You betrayed your constituents. You abandoned your wife. You betrayed everybody!” “This is about power. You just want power, man. If you want public service go volunteer somewhere!” “Did you leave your black socks on?” Spitzer appeared to take it in stride, as if he expected it. “This is what I look forward to — dealing with the public,” said Spitzer. “This is New...

From corporate boardrooms to the headquarters of the city’s Democratic political campaigns, phone lines lighted up and strategy sessions were organized on Monday with a single mission in mind: stopping Eliot Spitzer. The surprise decision by former Governor Spitzer to run for citywide office startled and galvanized the city’s political establishment, which worried aloud about handing the TV-savvy and self-financed candidate a new megaphone. In candid conversations, some of the leaders expressed acute regret over their failure to swiftly undercut the mayoral campaign of former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, another scandal-scarred candidate for citywide office, and said they would not...