CNN Tries to Rehabilitate Scandal-Tainted Eliot Spitzer (Again)
Eliot Spitzer, the former Democratic New York governor who resigned in 2008 amidst a prostitution scandal, was given a prime-time CNN show less than three years later. And on Wednesday night he enjoyed a nice promotion
from CNN's Piers Morgan as he runs for New York City comptroller.
Morgan largely avoided Spitzer's 2008 scandal – except to use it for his "comeback" narrative. "This is all part of a comeback. You are the 'Comeback Kid.' Do you like being the 'Comeback Kid?'" he asked Spitzer.
[Video below. Audio here.]
Morgan also got Spitzer to pitch his own comptroller skills, hailing him as the "Sheriff of Wall Street":
"Well, we have record earnings again down at the banks and Wall Street is buzzing again. You were known as the sheriff of Wall Street. Have they been policed properly in your view since the huge crash?"
And Morgan cited positive poll numbers for Spitzer and fellow
scandal-tainted Democrat Anthony Weiner to ask about the public's "power
of forgiveness."
Spitzer touted his skills and hoped voters would "give him a second
chance." Morgan answered, "Well, they seem to be. And that's what the
polls are suggesting." He plugged Spitzer's book and concluded the
chummy interview, "I've always been a fan. I'll remain a fan."
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on July 17 on Piers Morgan Live at 9:49 p.m. EDT:
[9:49]
PIERS
MORGAN: Eliot Spitzer's sex scandal cost him his job as New York's
governor. Many thought it would destroy his political career but now
he's back, running for office again. This time as New York City's
comptroller. The polls show he's leading the race, but can he really
pull off a victory?
Eliot Spitzer is in the chair tonight or maybe we should call it "in
the arena" because that was the tile of his own show here at CNN. His
new book is "Protecting Capitalism Case by Case." Eliot, great to see
you again.
ELIOT SPITZER (D), former New York governor: Well, thank you. It's great to be back.
MORGAN: We joined CNN –
SPITZER: On this side of the table.
MORGAN: – at roughly at the same time. And –
SPITZER: You're still here.
MORGAN: I'm still here.
(Laughter)
(...)
MORGAN: Let's move to your book, "Protecting Capitalism Case by Case."
Eliot Spitzer. This is all part of a comeback. You are the "Comeback
Kid." Do you like being the "Comeback Kid?"
SPITZER: Well, I would have preferred not to have needed to be a comeback kid, but that's –
(Laughter)
If it's the only alternative I've got, sure. Look, the book, the
genesis of the book was certainly the eight years as attorney general
where he made cases, and I wanted to put it into a theoretical
construct. Then I taught for several years at CCNY, thoroughly loved it.
And so I said, let me try to write this stuff down. And it's an
argument in defense of capitalism. People – you know, there are folks
who disagreed with me who said no, no, no, you're messing with the rules
of capitalism.
The argument in this book is that if you understand markets properly as
I think these cases demonstrate I do, you understand where you need
enforcement, where you need the notion of self-regulation doesn't work,
you need to ensure competition, you need to ensure there are no
conflicts of interest.
The things that had infected Wall Street that I was saying back in, you
know, years before the cataclysm, I said guys, if we do not tame these
problems, we do not temper these impulses, there's going to be an issue.
MORGAN: Well, we have record earnings again down at the banks and Wall
Street is buzzing again. You were known as the sheriff of Wall Street.
Have they been policed properly in your view since the huge crash?
SPITZER: No. I -- look -- no, there's not been sufficient
accountability and I write a little bit about that. I'm glad the profits
are back. You know, profits are good. You know, as I say, you want
capital formation, you want the banks to be healthy. You want them to be
better capitalized. We did not either succeed in insuring
accountability for those. There were malefactors who should have been
sanctioned. OK. Put that aside.
More fundamentally did we reform the sector properly, and I think the
problem is we did not. We still have too big to fail, we have too big to
manage, and we also have almost – you know, with the government just
said they're too big to prosecute. And so you put those three together,
it leads to a situation where bad things can happen once again. And I
think – you know, John Kenneth Galbraith, who wrote a great book that I
talk about in my book, you know, a short history of financial euphoria,
makes the observation that we have a very short memory when it comes to
financial crises.
We like to forget because it's an ugly moment. And yet we forget at our
own peril because the lessons have to be internalized or else we'll be
in trouble.
MORGAN: Talking of forgetting your peril and lessons learned, you and
Anthony Weiner both ahead in the polls in your relative races. What does
that tell you about the American public's power of forgiveness?
SPITZER: Well, look, I don't read too much into polls. I would say this
about the American public. It is a forgiving public. And that is, I
think, an affirmative quality, you know, as a people. As I've said, and I
believe very deeply, it doesn't mean that forgiveness will extend to
me. That is an open question and this is a tough race. This has been, as
you may have seen, you know, the media, you think you're in the media,
you were once in the tabloid media, it can be a little edgy, and I knew
that. I mean, this is not something that I -- that escaped my attention
before --
MORGAN: But a lot of speculation about whether your wife Silda is
behind this, whether you're still together. Do you want to clarify that?
SPITZER: Look, I'll say only this. Yes, the family is behind it. And I
would not have done this without the family being behind it. It's also
been a rather, you know, frenzied, shall I say, media moment. When I was
down in Union Square the other day, literally I was stuck in a
doughnut, it's called, with about 100 folks surrounding me.
So I would not have invited any member of my family into that context
at this moment. But the family is behind it. And you know, beyond that
I've said a lot about our personal lives. I think – you know, personal
lives are personal lives. I'm running for an office where I think the
skills I've got in terms of capital markets, finance, budget, and I hope
the public will give me a second chance and say those skills relate to
the job you're seeking.
MORGAN: Well, they seem to be. And that's what the polls are
suggesting. "Protecting Capitalism Case by Case." Eliot Spitzer, it's
great to have you back.
SPITZER: Thank you, sir.
MORGAN: I've always been a fan. I'll remain a fan. Good to see you again.
