Only days ago, the “steamroller” looked set to run right over Scott Stringer on his ride into the city comptroller’s office. But in a reminder that it’s not over so long as the fat lady still has some zings, yesterday’s Quinnipiac University poll shows Eliot Spitzer dropping fast.
He’s lost the 19-point lead he had in his last Q poll showing — making the contest a dead heat.
The irony of this race has always been that the hooker scandal, which forced Spitzer’s humiliating resignation as governor five years ago, has left him with at least one benefit today. As voters forget the details of his abuses in office, they still remember his name. In contrast, rival Scott Stringer is far less well-known.
Other polls will no doubt show different results. But Spitzer’s drop in the Q poll suggests that the thing he has to fear most in this campaign is an informed electorate.
It’s no secret that the most bitter opposition to his candidacy comes not from Republicans or conservatives but from those within his own party — in other words, from the people who know him best.
They know the phoniness of his pose as a man looking out for the little people. Especially those who have worked for him know Spitzer as a man who has always abused his public responsibilities in the service of his own personal ambitions.
We saw this again just this week, during a campaign appearance outside a public school in Brooklyn, where he unveiled his education policies.
In the past, we’ve criticized Spitzer for his tendency to focus on things not relevant to the comptroller’s job description.
In the case of education, taxpayers actually have a stake in having a strong comptroller who makes sure they are getting value for the $25 billion in tax dollars the city spends on education.
So what does Spitzer propose? Two things designed to make the teachers union smile.
First, he’s vowing to audit testing companies trying to measure student performance, something the unions are dead set against.
Second, according to a policy memo obtained by The Huffington Post, he “wants to encourage contract negotiations that include salary increases with the United Federation of Teachers.”
Still, if we know our Eliot, we know he doesn’t deal with frustration well. So it’s well worth watching how he reacts to the swings in his numbers.
After all, what could be more frustrating for Spitzer — and more revealing for New Yorkers — than the knowledge that the more the voters know about him, the less they seem to like.