There are two great op-eds in the NY Sun and Newsday which taken together provide excellent analysis of the Governor’s race.

The first is by Raymond J. Keating at Newsday, “Spitzer’s ‘federalist papers’ are onerous”:

“… Why is Spitzer apparently cruising into the governor’s office? … Washington Post reporter Brooke A. Masters explores his record as attorney general in a new book aptly titled “Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer.” Masters presents a generally favorable portrait, including views from critics and opponents. … But it is Spitzer’s love of regulation and tendency to twist the system that warrant concern as he runs for governor. In a preposterous nuisance lawsuit against gun manufacturers, for example, he used the attorney general’s office to further a lefty political agenda. The judge, according to Masters, tossed out the case “at the first possible moment,” and an appeals panel later found Spitzer’s attempts to dictate business practices to gun manufacturers to be “legally inappropriate, impractical and unrealistic.” And even where Spitzer was right about detecting business wrongdoing, he often reached beyond the appropriate role of a state attorney general by seeking to impose his own brand of regulation, such as price controls on mutual fund fees. It wasn’t regulation through deliberative legislation. Instead, it was regulation through litigation and strong-armed settlements. As justification, Spitzer grossly perverts the idea of federalism to fit his own liberal - or what he likes to call “progressive” - agenda. … But now, New Yorkers appear on the verge of electing Spitzer as governor. New York already chases away businesses and jobs due to burdensome government, including over-regulation. What signal would be sent to businesses with a Gov. Spitzer? After all, he has been an overreaching regulator in a job without regulatory powers. Imagine what he could do as governor. It can’t be good for New York’s economy. So, again, why is Spitzer strolling into the governor’s office?”

Keating makes some good points here. The op-ed in the Sun, “Faso Sees Vacuum in Leadership of State Republicans,” helps answer Keating’s question:

“The Republican candidate for governor of New York, John Faso, said yesterday that the state Republican Party is suffering from a leadership void and is doing virtually nothing to support his campaign against the front-runner in the race, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. When asked who leads the Republican Party, Mr. Faso in an interview with The New York Sun said, “Leadership implies that someone is there leading the troops, organizing the ground forces, raising the money to conduct a campaign. There’s no one doing it.” Asked if he thought that there ought to be such a leader, he said, “Damn straight there should be.” …”

Technorati Tags: Eliot Spitzer, John Faso, Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer