While newspapers and pundits are still sorting out the details and possible New York consequences of the Spitzer scandal, I cannot help but wonder if this remarkable turn of events may doom the chances of Senator Hillary Clinton becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
In my view, even if voters do not flee from Senator Clinton in the wake of a New York sex scandal, I suspect many super delegates have to be worried about how the Spitzer story can reinforce a Democratic “family values” immorality that Bill Clinton has long represented. In just a few hours of CNN watching last night, I saw the famous clip of Bill Clinton’s finger wagging lie about not having sexual relations. Whether he resigns or stays on as Governor, Elliot Spitzer and Bill Clinton will be linked in discussions for weeks and perhaps months to come. And one can already imagine how many different Clinton-Spitzer jokes are being written for the late night talk shows (including, of course, the all-important SNL).
Of course, in a primary season that has had an amazing number of twists and turns in just 10 weeks of voting, it is foolish to make any bold predictions about exactly what will happen next. But I believe that Elliot Spitzer’s expensive February date may be the unofficial start of the end of the Clinton era in Democratic politics.
Posted by Douglas A. Berman on March 11, 2008 at 08:18 AM
» Spitzer Roundup from Sex Crimes I don’t have much new to add beyond my initial post on the subject of Spitzer. I’m just waiting to see if and when he will resign (I think it seems likely) and if and when he will be indicted [Read More]
Tracked on Mar 11, 2008 10:16:04 PM
Comments
How fair is that (putting aside that neither life nor politics is fair) and what does it say about the perception of our party system? Other than having endorsed Clinton, Spitzer has nothing to do with her or her campaign or, for that matter, her husband. The Republicans still are able to play the family values card even after Craig and Foley and they get away with it; why does it continue to be different for Democrats?
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Mar 11, 2008 9:08:29 AM