Politics on the Hudson

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer talked about the prostitution scandal that brought him down in this interview released today on bigthink.com, talking about the pain he caused his family, how he let down them and the public down and how others can avoid similar troubles by simply not being stupid.

“I think the hardest piece of this is recognizing the pain I’ve caused to my family, which is a heavy burden to carry, as it should be, and the sense that I have let down not only my family, but friends, colleagues and voters,” he said.

He added, “I desperately wanted to do that job, to do it well … But I let them down and that is a very heavy burden to carry.”

Asked how other politicians can avoid a similar problem, he answered:

“When you know something is stupid, don’t do it,” he said. “There often is not a lot of subtly to the things that cause trouble, and it’s not a lack of capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. It’s the failure to exercise that judgment at the particular moment, whether out of hubris, out of a sense of entitlement, out of a sense of adrenaline, whatever it may be. But, you know, it’s stupidity that brings people down.”

There are a number of clips from the interview. In another one he’s asked whether he regrets picking David Paterson as lieutenant governor after Paterson selected Kirsten Gillibrand as U.S. senator a year ago.

He said he doesn’t regret it and says Paterson “has been thrust into a very difficult environment.”

But he knocked the pick of Gillibrand, saying “She has unfortunately shown that she is more a careerist than politician dedicated to standing up for a principle.”

On another clip, he’s asked if it’s true about the socks? He chuckled and said, “No.”

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