Humbled

What Ezra says.

This is sort of the boring take on Spitzer, but what we're seeing here is not the fall -- if indeed he does fall -- of a high-flying governor. It's the final tumble of a crushed reformer. Spitzer, for reasons both structural and personal, has been utterly humbled by Albany. The new capitalism he promised, the age of transparency he spoke of, the national ambitions he harbored -- all have broken before the obstacles he faced in the governor's mansion. When you think of the hype he was getting only a couple years ago, that's a rather remarkable fact. I don't care about the prostitution. But the capacity of the system to stand against those who would reform it, and who come into office with a broad mandate to do so, is really quite sobering.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will voters overcome their disgust in reaction to the subsequent "outrage" of his opponents, as we've seen in the past? Or will the sheer mindless hubris of the act (or acts), combined with the money involved ($5K for two hours, yowzer), damage him so much he can't rally a defense?

Republicans in Congress were never able to make much of a case against Clinton based on cries of "abuse of power" over a young woman working for him. It probably didn't work because most people saw through the feigned outrage, realizing Republicans couldn't care less about Lewinsky (the Starr Report was certainly evidence of that). The whole thing seemed more sad than anything else.

Having the money and power to beckon a call girl to Washington DC may have a different effect on voters' views of Spitzer.