DesertFox
03-16-2008, 01:54 PM
A popular media narrative last week was that the sordid revelations that brought down New York governor Eliot Spitzer were a total shock to New Yorkers because he was universally regarded as a paragon of probity. The prostitution scandal was the fall of Mr. Clean, as CNN and Reuters put it. We were repeatedly reminded that Time had once dubbed him "Crusader of the Year." The juxtaposition of the Spitzer who made morals and ethics the hallmark of his career with the hooker-loving married man caught with his pants down was presented as a delicious morality tale.
While the details of his demise truly were dramatic, there is a flaw in the fallen crusader narrative. By the time Spitzer fell, it was only the liberal media that still thought of him as Mr. Clean. They alone still saw a political rock star and a savior of the Democratic party. (The New York Times and the New Republic had talked of "Spitzerism" as the path to the party's future.) In their minds, his image as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" was etched in stone.
Most New Yorkers, though, had long had their fill of Eliot Spitzer.
More (http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/883byckj.asp)
While the details of his demise truly were dramatic, there is a flaw in the fallen crusader narrative. By the time Spitzer fell, it was only the liberal media that still thought of him as Mr. Clean. They alone still saw a political rock star and a savior of the Democratic party. (The New York Times and the New Republic had talked of "Spitzerism" as the path to the party's future.) In their minds, his image as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" was etched in stone.
Most New Yorkers, though, had long had their fill of Eliot Spitzer.
More (http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/883byckj.asp)