News of Spitzer’s problems still hot topic

<a href="mailto:jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com">By JOE LOTEMPLIO</a>
Staff Writer

March 12, 2008 06:50 am

— PLATTSBURGH — Shock waves caused by Monday’s news that Gov. Eliot Spitzer was caught in a prostitution ring continued to reverberate around the North Country Tuesday.
City of Plattsburgh Democratic Party head Timothy Merrick called the episode a “tragedy,” and Stuart Brody, head of the Democratic Rural Conference, said it was a “crisis.”
“It’s unfortunate because so many positive things that were in the works may be compromised because of this,” Merrick said.
“It’s disappointing.”
Republicans around the state Tuesday were calling strongly for Spitzer to resign.
Merrick, who in 2006 aligned himself with Spitzer when he ran for State Senate, said he hopes the scandal does not hinder Democrats’ efforts to win elections this November.
Democrats moved to the verge of taking over the Senate with a win in a special election last month in the heavily Republican district of Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.
“I still think it is going to be a great year for Democrats,” Merrick said.
“I think the faster he (Spitzer) resigns and acknowledges that this was a personal error and not a Democratic Party error, then we can show that we still have good people out there.”
Merrick said the story could, however, cause some Democrats to stay home on Election Day out of disgust.
“But we have to remember that we still don’t know all of the details, so we shouldn’t just rush to judgment,” he said.
Brody, who is from Essex, said Spitzer needs to concentrate on his family now.
“This is a crisis for the Spitzer family and a crisis for all New Yorkers,” Brody said. “And in times of crisis, the burden of leadership falls back upon us, the people.”
The Democratic Rural Conference represents the 41 rural upstate counties of the state. Brody has been chair for the past five years.
“It is up to us now to maintain faith in a just society, to seek the wisdom to pursue the right path toward it and to summon the courage to fight for it as long as the effort requires,” Brody said.
“Eliot inspired us in that process. As his longtime friends and New Yorkers, we owe him our respect as well as our compassion.”
E-mail Joe LoTemplio at: jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com