It could be worse, you could be Eliot Spitzer.
Should he have resigned? We say yes.
While there are similarities between his extracurricular activities and U.S. Senator David Vitter's from last year; differences in extenuating circumstances were what ultimately led to Spitzer's downfall.
First, he was the Chief Executive and former Attorney General of New York. In those positions, he was responsible for faithfully executing and upholding the law. By breaking that law and being part of a conspiracy to circumvent the law (transporting a prostitute across state lines), he undermined the integrity and public trust of the Governor's Office.
Second, he had a legislature calling for his resignation who was ready to impeach him if he did not. While it is not clear if they would have had the votes, the public spectacle they were about to begin would have dragged on for months and provided plenty of fodder for the New York press corps.
And third, the hypocrisy was just too much for him to overcome. While Vitter was outspoken on moral issues, at the end of the day he was just another politician who says one thing but does another. In Spitzer's case, he had waged a "holier than thou" against Wall Street (who were, in fact, in some instances breaking the law) while he was Attorney General and built himself a name and reputation as a moral crusader that he rode into the Governor's office.
My first item is that he performed illegal acts that compromised his integrity. In other words, these were acts that may have been used as leverage to control the New York State Government (i.e. blackmail).
In my mind that is enough to merit either his resignation or impeachment. The issues may actually be worse than what we know. The money aspect will be ugly as well--whose money was he using?
Vitter may fall into the same category, but I am not particularly familiar with his situation. In general, Republicans need to be as aggressive in dealing with corruption in our own house as we can. That was one of the two reasons for the miserable results of the 2006 election.
Posted by: Joel | March 12, 2008 2:52 PM | Permalink to Comment