The way they see politics is very corrupt. They see no problems with paying bribes to get what they want. In the socialist or communist world, paying bribes is standard operating procedure.
But, if they see a bribe committed by a republican, they see it as a hypocritical action, as Republicans condemn it.
They then feel free to condemn and demand justice.
Much like the Adultery theme, they can do it because they approve of it. We can not do it because we disapprove it.
Spitzer went down not for taking bribes or breaking laws. He went down because of Hypocrical activity .... prosecuting hookers while patronizing hookers. If he never prosecuted hookers, he would have been given a pass in NY for patronizing them.
That is definitely true - Republicans are held to a higher standard by leftists than Democrats are because of the basic Republican (Conservative, actually) belief in trying to adhere to a moral standard.
That’s why conservative commentators and writers go after conservatives doggedly (think: Mark Foley) while the liberals never go after liberals as doggedly (think: Eric Massa). We have a moral standard - stray away and expect to get called out. They do not have a moral standard. Their idea of morality is “it’s ok if we do it because we don’t espouse morality”.