a politician of a different stripe

I know Elliot Spitzer's taking a bit of a beating these days, but I still have an enormous amount of respect for the man, not least of which was his public apology in the New York Times the other day. As one reader put it:

"Am I dreaming, or did a politician actually say, “We made mistakes” instead of “Mistakes were made?" Thank you, Gov. Spitzer, for your honesty, your willingness to apologize, and your rejection of the passive weaseled voice!"

I know Spitzer came in to office with a big head, a lot of big ideas, and a real mandate (almost 70% of the vote, I believe, as opposed to Bush's close win in 2004, also deemed a mandate by some), and I know some people have been disappointed in his lack of results. But I think he just needs to learn to play the game a little bit better. Spitzer's not a born politician, and this is undoubtedly to his credit. But he needs to overcome his self-righteousness and learn to play well with others. Or at least not beat them over the head and try to steal ALL of their toys. And he will. And then he'll start to accomplish great things up there in Albany.