How do we feel about Eliot Spitzer as Kerry's Attorney General?

[AgentLadyBug]

It sounds awesome to me, from the stuff I've heard about his more-often-than-you-might-think successful attempts at cracking down on wall street/corporate crime. right now, he's filing a lawsuit against that Grasso punk (former head of the NYSE who quit and took like 187 million with him)....

Also I read a speech he gave like a year or so ago - it was an impassioned plea for MUCH stricter regulation of wall street, and much more vigorous prosecution of those who cheat.

But there may be other stuff I don't know about him that would make him not so good a choice - anyone got any feelings about the matter?

[russian33]

1. good choice, i think...

...living in NYC i see him fairly often, doing what I think is right...and not really stopping

[AgentLadyBug]

7. yah - he reminds me of what's-his-name......

... from the Untouchables.... the guy who got Capone....

just an idea......

[onecitizen]

2. Great idea!!

`

[calimary]

3. That would be great if Edwards is the VP choice. Otherwise,

say, if someone like Wesley Clark is Kerry's running mate, I'd want Edwards as AG. But Spitzer's got terrific potential. I'd bet he's gonna be SOMEBODY'S AG one of these days.

[Zuni]

4. If he is cracking down hard on Enron/Tyco type

white collar embezzlers and people who defraud honest people, that would be a lot better than their ennablers in the WH now.
Any improvement would be a great relief.

[ithacan]

5. Absolutely not!!!

We need Spitzer to stay here in New York and run for governor!

[DinahMoeHum]

6. He may be more interested in the NY governor's race in 2006.

n/t

:kick:

[AgentLadyBug]

10. fair enuff...... answer a few questions for me tho.....

(a) realistically, what would his chances be? he'd win in the city, of course, but NY is a bit more than just NYC, which is why Pataki exists.....

(b) could he be more effective as NY governor than as US AG? Maybe, but it seems to me the burden would be on the governor-fans to make that case... It seems to me that the AG's reach is both a helluva lot broader than any Governor's, and also a helluva lot deeper... I could be wrong tho....

(c) AG is appointed, which means a lot of stuff would have to work out (namely Kerry being elected) before Spitzer would have that opportunity. NY Governor, otoh, Spitzer can run for anytime - say after serving as US AG?

[DinahMoeHum]

15. OK, here we go. . .

a) Pataki's been around since 1994, and the shelf-life of governors, even the "popular" ones, only lasts so long. Also, upstate is like Ohio, suffering from lack of jobs and migration away from its towns. The major industry out there is prisons. Pataki hasn't really done anything in the past ten years to bring jobs there, except for casino gambling, which does NOT have a good track record elsewhere. Spitzer may be a welcome alternative.

b) Good point. He may have bigger influence as AG, especially if he and Kerry clean house by purging out the "Bible-thumpers" and such. At this point, anything would better that John Asscrack, and Spitzer would be a massive improvement. Still, the decision to accept the AG position or stay and try for governor is ultimately up to him - and out of our hands.

c) Again, ultimately it's Spitzer's decision - if/when Kerry wins.

Gotta go now.

:kick:

[Jacobin]

8. He'd be good at the corporate crime stuff

I don't know about his social policies.

[AgentLadyBug]

11. I submit......

(a) that he couldn't possibly be uncool enuff wrt to social stuff as to outweigh his awesomeness wrt corporate stuff.... (true? dunno),

(b) lol - for the amount of time he'd be spending on the corporate stuff, he'd have very little left to deal with social stuff anyways....

but fair enuff - it would be good to know his positions on social issues...

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Better than Beers or Morningstar at NSC.

[caledesi]

12. Love Eliot Spitzer...remember him from Rivera Live days. Great guy. nt

[KT2000]

13. Dream come true

someone who actually cares about people!

[AgentLadyBug]

14. precisely... and a bulldog, from what i hear... \eom