Posted on 03/10/2008 6:07:11 PM PDT by doug from upland
Clinton declines comment on Spitzer By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
SCRANTON, Pa. - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton carefully sidestepped questions Monday about the sex scandal engulfing Eliot Spitzer, her home state governor and political ally.
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"I don't have any comment on that. Obviously I am sending my best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family," Clinton said, opening her first campaign swing through Pennsylvania, which holds its presidential primary April 22.
Spitzer apologized Monday after he was accused of paying for sex with a high-priced call girl. Authorities say he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging a tryst with the woman at a Washington hotel room.
It was a blow to Clinton, who recently had intensified her criticism of rival Barack Obama's relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a political patron on trial in federal court in Obama's hometown of Chicago for alleged fraud and corruption.
While not personally close, Clinton and Spitzer have been friendly colleagues since the former first lady first ran for the Senate in New York in 2000. Her aides said Clinton deeply respected Spitzer's work during his two terms as state attorney general, where he became a national crusader against corporate corruption and Wall Street investment excesses.
But indirectly, Spitzer also caused Clinton a significant political headache late last year when he proposed a plan to provide illegal immigrants with drivers' licenses.
During a nationally televised debate, Clinton tripped over a question about whether she supported the proposal, prompting criticism that she was being evasive. She later said she opposed the plan but hadn't wanted to damage Spitzer by saying so. Spitzer later killed the idea.
Spitzer was slow to endorse Clinton's White House bid and has not been among her more forceful surrogates. But he is one of her all-important superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders who could play a decisive role in determining who becomes the presidential nominee.
Clinton declined to say whether she believed Spitzer could survive the scandal, which drew immediate calls for him to resign.
"Let's wait and see what comes out of the next few days," she said. "Right now I don't have any comment. I think it's appropriate to wish his family well and see how things develop."
No stranger to the public humiliation of sex scandals, the former first lady stood by her husband in 1998 through the investigation of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment.
Coincidentally, a handful of Clinton's high-profile supporters have been forced to apologize for sexual misbehavior.
Early in 2007, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom publicly apologized for having a relationship with the wife of a top political aide. He blamed alcohol dependence for his actions and checked into rehab.
Shortly after endorsing Clinton in May 2007, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a rising Hispanic star in the Democratic Party, announced he was divorcing his wife after carrying on monthslong affair with a local television news anchor.
There’s a shocker. /s
I guess a chubby intern just wasn’t good enough for Spitzer.
Translation: "Let me wait until after I convene a focus group to see how I should respond to this issue, in the best way to gain support amongst undecided Democrat voters."
Kinda like asking a junkie to come out against heroine.
I loath Spitzer. But all thes laws about making interstate telephone calls, or meeting someone in another State; I'd like to see everyone who voted for this crap go down with Spitzer.
ML/NJ
The guy is guilty(by his own admission) of running a cat house, which is illegal as h**, setting a fine example for obeying the law to our young people, and Hillary sends him her best wishes? That is worse than no comment.
I heard on Fox earlier this evening that Hillary’s campaign web site has “cleaned” out any references to Spitzer. Even articles about his endorsement of Hillary. I do not go to her web site, so have not checked this out.
I’m stuned that Hillary hasn’t condemned this. /sarc
Didn’t I hear an “I-don’t-recall” in there somewhere?
Dems circling the wagons, BIG time. Media complicit -- they're all being very aloof and non-committal (ie references to Spitzers "alleged ties to prostitution," when he flat out admitted it).
This is weird. Perhaps, as mindbender suggested on his thread, it leads to something really big.
The beast knows this will remind women of clinochhio’s stunts. That can’t be good. But it will be worse for Barack McGovern Obama. Wait til he has to campaign in New York with Gov. David Patterson, a blind albino who is especially hard to look at. Yeah, I’m sure those people upstate be crawling through broken glass to vote for McCain.
Either way, anybody says this doesn’t move New York to a “must campaign in” state for B. McGovern Obama doesn’t know what he is talking about. This screws Obama. He didn’t have any plans of campaigning in New York, but with this and the Jewish voters bailing out well....
At last !
This sex scandal is exactly where Hillary!’s 35 years of experience lies.
Surely she can support Mrs. Spitzer, based on her years of victimhood, and give her tips on how to turn this to her best advantage.
It worked wonders for her resume.
Right about now, she's thinking that Spitzer F'd HER.
If Hussein-Obama is smart, he'll call for Spitzer's resignation immediately, forcing the Bwitch to comment.
She doesn’t want to comment until she finds out if she knows any of the girls.
Putting lower level people in jail is one thing, but when it moves to the penthouse is something else...really serious.
It is said that Spitzer is generally an arrogant, obnoxious, self centered jerk....his "successes" beguiled him to believe that he was bullet proof and generally above the law.
The Wall St moguls are teaching him a lesson as we speak.
His future ambitions are as dead as Gary Hart's.
Maybe Hillary finally learned....sharing.
Spitzer was “CLIENT NUMBER 9”
Makes you wonder who “CLIENT NUMBER 1” was. Do we know any oversexed politicians with property in NY?
Hillary is like her husband.
She sleeps with the Dem Party underlings....and she doesn't pay for it.
Blackmail ?
“Obviously I am sending my best wishes and thoughts to the governor”
Why???
“Translation: “Let me wait until after I convene a focus group to see how I should respond to this issue, in the best way to gain support amongst undecided Democrat voters.””
At which point she’ll declare: It’s a vast right-wing conspiracy.
hmmm. if he survives the next couple of days, it’s probably not that serious.
Yeah, cause she can’t say anything without condemning herself.
He’s DOA. This is really big and Spitz can’t duck it.
No, I meant if he survives.
I even bet Schumer is scrambling right now. Where one 'rat congregates, so there are others. Schumer is pulling strings, calling in markers and favors, and sending out the goon squads by now.
He’s been de-nutted. He’s done.
Hmmm...
That's an interesting thought. ABC News says the trouble started when a bank noticed that Spitzer was making suspicious money transfers and reported the transfers to the IRS. The initial thought was that he was hiding bribes.
The IRS brought in the FBI's Public Corruption Squad. Then the FBI investigation led to the prostitution ring.
Spitzer could be prosecuted under a "structuring" law that has to do with creating a series of financial movements designed to obscure the true purpose of payments.
See http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4424507&page=1
She sends best wishes to the pig?
I mean, if doesn't commit arkancide.
You get a Gold Star...
>>He’s DOA. This is really big and Spitz can’t duck it.<<
I hope so, but that’s what we said about Mr. Clinton a few years back.
Well, my thought is that Spitzer is a superdelegate who strayed off the Hillary plantation, and thus became an example to all the other superdelegates who might be similarly tempted.
Actually Spitzer may be guilty of purchasing sex, however the Presidential rapist Billy Jeff took what he wanted by force.
No way Hillary wants to remind the public about her own husband’s zipper problem by filling up the media with this topic. I’m sure the news infuriated her. She must have cursed a blue streak when she found out about it.
Spitzer is toast.
Hildabeast's home turf. Sorta like LBJ hosting JFK in Dallas way back when.
Once again, the First Enabler sucks up to males and refuses to speak out for disenfranchised, abused women.
gee, mr. obama’s being awfully quiet of late.
Thanks for the ping!
Hillary is in shock. As she well ought to be. They are going to drag the Spitzer affair out as long as possible and which will keep reminding people of Bill and Hillary and the “It depends on what the true meaning of is, is...”
Oops. Their Obama-bias is showing. Impossible to equate Hillary-Spitzer with Obama-Rezko.
I certainly hope this makes any future political ambitions of this guy deader than a doornail. I have long considered him to be the most dangerous NorthEast Demodog. He’s had a conspicuously lousy tenure as governor thus far and that certainly has lowered his stock, but this type of bloke tends to have an uncanny ability to survive political problems. Adding this to his resume should really help keep him from continuing the political ladder climb.
Huh? That's what you say when you find out someone was caught in a criminal act? Sick!
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