Ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer chats with WAMC CEO Alan Chartock Sunday afternoon during a fundraing event for the lcoal public radio affiliate. (Phil Kamrass/Times Union)
ALBANY — Eliot Spitzer returned to New York’s capital city Sunday more than 4-1/2 years after he abruptly resigned from office amid a prostitution scandal.
Most of Spitzer’s remarks, at a fundraising lecture for WAMC Northeast Public Radio, the Albany-based NPR affiliate, dealt with national affairs. The former governor and attorney general predicted Barack Obama would be reelected after “comfortable” victories in the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia despite “not a great show” in his first debate against Republican nominee Mitt Romney and “deeper anxiety in the public” about the state of the economy.
Spitzer only briefly touched on state issues, including current Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a fellow Democrat. Spitzer praised him for pushing the legalization of same-sex marriage but said his posture toward this year’s legislative redistricting was “troubling.” He declined to elaborate.
But in a question about Cuomo’s 2016 prospects, Spitzer answered indirectly.
“Let’s win this one first…I think Hillary [Clinton] should run,” Spitzer said to applause. “And if she does I honestly can’t imagine there would be any primary.”
Clinton, the current Secretary of State and former New York senator, has not given any indication she will make another White House bid after her unsuccessful 2008 campaign. Prominent Democrats have called for her to do so, and early polling shows she would dominate the pool of prospective Democratic challengers.
Cuomo is mentioned in that mix, though he has denied any focus on a presidential campaign. He rarely leaves the Empire State, and says his focus is on governing.
And will Spitzer, infamously implicated as Client #9 in a 2008 prostitution sting (he was never charged with any criminal act related to the incident, which took place in Washington, D.C.) run for office again?
“I’ve been elected dog walker of my own house,” he said. “I love what I’m doing…I’m involved in my family business which keeps me busy for a fair part of the day, I have a TV show so I’m gainfully employed, I try to contribute through media. The appeal of public office is very real for anyone who’s ever been there, you like to think you can contribute. Is it something I think about when I wake up in the morning? No.”
Hardly a firm “no.”
Here’s video of his exchange with reporters: