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No, there will not be any off-color jokes about Spitzer (or Weiner) here.

I leave that to the NY Post; they seem to possess a bottomless pit of double-entendres.

(I will say, though, that during the NY mayoral primary election, I had been approaching NYC newsstands with caution, as I don’t really enjoy reading headlines while some stranger leers in my direction, as though we are sharing the latest crude “joke.”)

And I am not going to say much of anything about Spitzer’s prostitution scandal. The details are well known enough to all.

Until the middle of the summer, Spitzer, who decided to run for NYC Comptroller (pronounced “controller”), held a commanding lead over Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who was virtually unknown outside of Manhattan.

via The Washington Examiner: Eliot Spitzer’s comeback isn’t a joke — it’s scary

…In 1994, Spitzer launched his political career by cheating and then lying about it. A lawyer and prosecutor without a very public profile, Spitzer had no political experience when he decided to run for New York State Attorney General that year. But he did have a very rich father. Though campaign finance law limited the amount of money that his real estate mogul father could donate to his campaign, as a candidate, Spitzer could use an unlimited amount of his own money. So, Spitzer got around these restrictions by having his father issue him personal loans on favorable terms that the younger Spitzer then transferred to his campaign. He then sold Manhattan apartments that were gifts from his father to help pay off the debt. Over the course of two campaigns for AG (the unsuccessful 1994 one and the triumphant 1998 race), Spitzer effectively received millions in campaign donations from his father, according to the New York Times, even while publicly insisting that he was financing the runs himself. Eventually, he was forced to admit to the Times that he had been receiving help from his father, even while maintaining he had done nothing wrong.

Once installed as AG, Spitzer was able to raise his profile by publicly shaming unpopular targets, even if there was no clear legal basis to support his actions….

As Paul Atkins, a former commission of the SEC, wrote in the WSJ, Spitzer engaged in a “self-aggrandizing crusade” against high-profile companies on “flimsy pretexts,” through “leaks to the press, rumor-mongering, and threats.” Furthermore, since federal securities laws do not permit indicted financial companies to manage money, these companies had no choice but to settle. For example, an early target was Marsh & McClellan; Spitzer demanded resignations and threatened an indictment, and the company paid an $850 million settlement. Although the convictions were vacated in 2010, Atkins asserts that the company “has never seen its stock price fully recover.”

Then there was Hank Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of AIG. After Greenberg publically criticized Spitzer’s shenanigans, Spitzer forced the AIG Board to demand Greenberg’s resignation by threatening to indict the company. He then accused Greenberg of fraud, but never followed up with an indictment. (Greenberg is now suing Spitzer.)

Here is Maria Bartiromo confronting Eliot Spitzer on the Hank Greenberg case:  (video is embedded in the article, and the “fireworks” start at 4:00)

In his run for Comptroller, Spitzer was very clear about his intentions. The NYC Comptroller manages pension funds of $140 billion, and he planned to go after companies that did not follow a progressive agenda. For example, he wrote of “punishing” the gun industry, as well as companies that did not adhere to strictly “green” policies.

Thankfully, in the last six weeks leading up to the Sept. 10 primary, Scott Stringer began attacking Spitzer’s policies, knocking him out of the general election.

Let’s hope this is the last we hear of this guy.

But the run for NYC Mayor appears more problematic.

As of last week, Democrat Bill de Blasio, who easily won the primary, is leading Republican Joe Lhota by 41 points.

De Blasio currently holds the office of Public Advocate. (I don’t know what a Public Advocate does. And I can’t find anyone else who seems to know, either.)

It appears that de Blasio has a nice family. He has no public record to speak of. And he likes to engage in class warfare, frequently talking about NYC as “two cities.” His main policy seems to be “taxing the rich.”

Here are some other facts about de Blasio:

He is 6’ 5”. (Very handy on the basketball court)

His wife is African-American. And, here is some totally irrelevant information about their marriage.

Their son, Dante, sports an Afro. (I guess he didn’t get  the memo that the 70’s are over.)

Here’s the commercial he did for his father’s campaign.

Both Clintons will be campaigning for de Blasio, as he was Hillary’s 2000 campaign manager for NY Senator.

And, guess who played a big behind-the-scenes part in de Blasio’s primary win?

Yep, Bertha Lewis, of Acorn fame.

Republican Joe Lhota, endorsed by Rudy Giuliani, acknowledged he has an “uphill battle,” but says de Blasio’s 41 point lead is “not insurmountable.”

Stay tuned.  

Related:

via Hotair: Look out, Wall Street, cause NYC’s ol’ pal Eliot Spitzer is back, or something

via New York Post: Fall-guy jockey: Neigh to Eliot

via New York Post: De Blasio’s Cuban vision for New York City

via National Review: (h/t Alain41) The Radicalism of Bill de Blasio