Spitzer swallows hard

Unsurprisingly, the cable news networks are all over Client 9, formerly known as New York Governor and Democratic Super-Delegate Eliot Spitzer, and his liaison(s) with a “high-priced prostitute” (get a taste of what he was paying for here): Will it ruin his career? Should he resign (on CNN, Jack Cafferty bluntly answers, “Yes”)? Is there a Democratic mouthpiece out there somewhere who may have tap-danced on Larry Craig and David Vitter and Mark Foley who can do a little back-pedaling now (on CNN, James Carville pointed out, “A lot of people have done things that are wrong”)?

Standing by his side while he gave his rote “I’m-sorry-I-got-caught” speech, Spitzer’s wife Silda had one of the sorriest expressions you’re likely to see on TV not on a dog anthropomorphically reacting in dismay to its owner’s buffoonery. If a politician really cares about his family (but not enough to actually forego some high-end friskiness in the first place), he should at least not trot them out against their will during these “My-family-supports-me-in-this-most-abjectly-humiliating-moment-in-my-life” photo ops.

Though no new information has emerged since the story broke, (it’s interesting that they’re emphasizing Spitzer’s “ties” to a “prostitution ring,” which sounds vaguely more sinister than simply ponying up money for some bumpity, whereas when Louisiana Senator David Vitter got caught, he threw in with the “D.C. Madam,” which sounds downright quaint), each of the networks is hammering on this pretty breathlessly, although they each stray from the topic occasionally to report on other things, usually the latest p!ssing match between Clinton and Obama. But they generally regain their senses pretty quickly and lunge back into their penetrating Spitzer coverage.

Political scandals are more fun than Hollywood scandals, because you get the whole blatant hypocrisy angle that elevates them from simply ugly and prurient to dismantling someone's entire character.