Saturday, March 15, 2008

O’Malley and Spitzer: Comeback chances compared

The headline is a tease. However, the article was not, at least not when first posted forty-five days ago.

Check out Josh Goodman's take on the two governors before the Spitzer jump off the cliff.

Of course, O'Malley inoculated himself against the stories of marital infidelity by dragging his wife to a press conference and saying he did not do it. Why did he do that? It seems that a staffer, likely, baited a staffer of O'Malley's future gubernatorial opponent into a conversation about the topic on an internet bulletin board. O'Malley then accused the sitting governor of spreading the rumor of infidelity through his staff. In O'Malley's lawyerly mind, the act of the subordinate, a servant, in taking the bait was the act of the Governor, the employer. That is a difference between O'Malley and Spitzer, that and the arrogant hypocrisy of Spitzer.

O'Malley's vulnerability lies in his opponent's ability to continue to hang his sins around his neck.

1 comment:

Bruce Robinson said...

Within days of the above discussion of politicians inoculating themselves against charges of marital infidelity, we have the new Governor of New York, waiting until after his inauguration, hanging all of his dirty, stained laundry on the public clothesline. He did it with no sense of shame. No, he did it, with a smile on his face and a lilt in his voice. He had triumphed mightily in getting one over on the public. Perhaps he was trying to establish his bona fides for getting along with many different people.