potential comebacks

Spitzer’s First Campaign Ad Doesn’t Mention His Name Nor His, Er, Unpleasantness

Eliot Spitzer’s self-financed campaign for city comptroller has produced its first ad, and it’s pretty darned vague. “If someone was taking advantage of you, that someone heard from him, loudly,” the ad intones, hinting at Spitzer’s past achievements as attorney general and then governor but not identifying them specifically. Other things it leaves unsaid: Spitzer’s name, and any mention of how his last stint in elected office ended. Basically, it’s a 32-second insinuation that some guy (presumably Spitzer) is “an old friend” to New Yorkers.

Who are these New Yorkers who consider Spitzer a long-lost pal? Again, we’re not told specifically, but Capital New York’s Azi Paybarah noticed that the majority of those pictured are women. Since Spitzer got in trouble for frequenting prostitutes while in office as governor, much has been made about his and fellow “scandidate” Anthony Weiner’s fight for women voters. A gross oversimplification, yes, but there you go. And it’s a fight Spitzer apparently intends to win, appropriate or no, by training his campaign’s camera on this demographic. At least that’s the implication, even if it goes unsaid.

Spitzer’s First Campaign Ad Doesn’t Mention Him