Could Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton?
Could the resignation New York Governor Eliot Spitzer hurt Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign? There is one school of thought that feels it could.
The Washington Post notes that the scandal is drowning out much of Clinton’s presidential campaign message and worse: the scandal is leading to upsummer paragraphs in news stories about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, usage of old stock footage about the Lewinsky scandal — even late night comedian jokes using the Spitzer and Lewinsky scandal as headlines.
In other words, it’s pushing forth in the media (and electorate) images of parts of the Clinton administration that aren’t helpful to Clinton’s campaign…as it drowns out her present messages.
The Post:
For a supporter, New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D) sure hasn’t done Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) any favors lately.
After all, it was Spitzer who, in the view of her advisers, caused the slide that put her where she is today, fighting from behind for the Democratic presidential nomination. A question about his proposal to let illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses tripped her up in a debate in late October and ended 10 months of unquestioned dominance in the race for the nomination.
Now, his apparent involvement with a prostitution ring has not only distracted attention from her efforts to take down the front-runner, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), it has also brought back unhelpful memories of her own husband’s dalliances in office. There on cable television again were pictures of Bill Clinton hugging Monica S. Lewinsky. And the image of Spitzer’s wife standing painfully by his side while he acknowledged unspecified wrongdoing could not help but remind some of Hillary Clinton’s own stand-by-her-man moment.
Never underestimate the power of images — and images within a political context — in American political life. It also underscores how campaigns — and perceptions — are shaped by forces beyond the control of political operatives, campaign ads, even huge campaign bankrolls. The “unforeseen events” can often influence a campaign. And it’s hard to see how this will help Clinton.
This certainly is not the way Clinton’s strategists would have mapped out this week on the campaign trail. They want voters to be thinking about that 3 a.m. phone call in terms of who is ready to handle a crisis in the White House, not in terms of where an unfaithful husband might be catting around town. And, sure enough, the late-night comedians wasted little time linking the Spitzer case to the Clintons. Jay Leno joked Monday night that Spitzer’s scandal “means Hillary Clinton is now only the second angriest woman in the state of New York.” David Letterman offered a Top 10 List of excuses Spitzer might cite, including the No. 1 excuse: “I thought Bill Clinton legalized this years ago.”
Best case for Hillary Clinton: it just means her campaign can’t get her imagery and message through as much as it hoped. Worst case: It revives anew references to the Monica Lewinsky scandal which makes Bill a tad less of a plus on the campaign trail then he was before the Spitzer story broke.
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12 Responses to “Could Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton?”
[...] IMAO wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCould Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton? March 12th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN Could the resignation New York Governor Eliot Spitzer hurt Decmoratic Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign? There is one school of thought that feels it could. The Washington Post notes that the scandal is drowning out much of Clinton’s presidential campaign message and worse: the scandal is leading to upsummer paragraphs in news stories about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, usage of old stock [...]
Since the WaPo has been proven wrong more often than I have, I'll posit a contrary flyer and suggest the resignation will drop the press coverage rather dramatically.
The intramural OK corral reenactment can now continue to be focused upon without serious competition for tabloid journalism and bloggerism..
Just curious, as Lt. Gov David Paterson will be temporarily replacing Spitzer, will Paterson be appointing a temp Lt. Gov? I can't seem to find anything about it.
Thanks, Jackie
I believe Speaker of the House elevates to Lt. Gov. in NYS.
[...] IMAO wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCould Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton? March 12th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN Could the resignation New York Governor Eliot Spitzer hurt Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign? There is one school of thought that feels it could. The Washington Post notes that the scandal is drowning out much of Clinton’s presidential campaign message and worse: the scandal is leading to upsummer paragraphs in news stories about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, usage of old stock [...]
Joe Bruno, Spitzer's nemesis 78-year old Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno become Lt. Governor. My understanding is that Bruno would keep his Senate position, but only be able to cast one vote, not his vote plus a second vote in the event of a tie-breaker (but I'm not sure how that really plays out).
Thanks, casualobserver. I keep reading that with Paterson's elevation to governor a super delegate is lost, but if SOH moves up wouldn't that super delegate vote be given to him/her?
I'm not a NYer, so I'm not that interested in the Spitzer scandal per say, but as a political junkie, I'm trying to learn and understand the new world (to me) of super delegates.
Right, because we had all forgotten about Monica Lewinsky Spitzer got caught.
OT—anyone else think that Silda Spitzer kinda resembles Jennifer Anniston?
Wow! And people say that Obama isn't tough- he actually got the goods on Spritzer and forced him to resign- and he did it by stealth since no one can link him to it! (I'm being facetious…
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[...] stupid mistakes I think he should stick around. So I wasn??t going to post anytwww.plunderbund.comCould Eliot Spitzer??s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton?Could Eliot Spitzer??s Resignation Hurt Hillary Clinton? March 12th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN Could the [...]
acai berry max…
While Sunday is always a“ feast day” as others have……