This who know the real Spitzer aren't impressed.
Then there was the Spitzer who promised a new ethical day in Albany and yet tried to cover up his and his staff's role in trying to smear a political foe by misusing the state police.Look at the bright side. There won't be many people watching.
And there was the Spitzer with the political tin ear.
The self-proclaimed "steamroller," who waged an early battle with the Legislature over the selection of a new controller, even though he had no formal role in the process of picking the person who would audit the executive branch. It wound up costing him his needed Democratic support and torpedoing his agenda.
And then there was the Spitzer who made national headlines for weeks when he proposed granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. At one point, he actually managed to alienate his strongest supporters by floating a compromise that they hated while doing nothing to appease critics.
The controversy not only raged for weeks until he backed off the plan, but also led to Hillary Clinton's first big gaffe on the presidential campaign trail when she fumbled for an answer when asked about the proposal during a Democratic debate.
By the time the hooker scandal forced him from office in March 2008, his poll numbers were down, he had no friends left in the Legislature, his administration was under investigation and he broke his key campaign promise that on day one, everything in dysfunctional Albany would change.
"He was not a good governor, he didn't get anything accomplished and he created chaos - otherwise he was fine," said veteran Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.
"The fact this guy now is going to tell America how to function after what he did to New York is a disgrace."
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