Spitzer Scandal’s Israeli Connection, Etc.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
If Spitzer steps down, he’d be the third governor in the Tri-state area to resign in the past four years due to a scandal. And Spitzer’s scandal wouldn’t be the only one with an Israeli connection.
Miscellany:
Of Albany’s Big Three — Spitzer, State Senate leader Joe Bruno and Assembly leader Sheldon Silver — Silver, a kippah-wearing Lower East Side powerbroker, is the only one not currently ensnared in a federal investigation.
Huffington Post’s Rachel Sklar speculates on how the Jewish media will cover the scandal: “Oy, such a nice Jewish boy, on his way to becoming the first Jewish President! What’s this girl’s name, Kristen? Sigh. To think he threw it all away for a shiksa.” (Hat tip: Romenesko)
My colleague Anthony Weiss notes that the Jewish community had been one of the last redoubts of support for Spitzer, who even before this scandal broke had been having a rocky first year in Albany. According to a February poll (PDF), Jews were the only New York demographic group with a majority viewing the Governor favorably — 53% to be precise.
Politico’s Ben Smith writes:
Spitzer’s announcement briefly galvanized a political world that has been singularly focused, for months, on the presidential contest. It has no immediate consequences for the 2008 race, though it seems to render more distant a prospect long floated by Spitzer’s circle: that he could become the first Jewish president.
It could also affect the fortunes of another prominent Jewish pol: Some have speculated in the past that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be interested in the job of governor at some point in the future.
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