The alleged Sheriff of Wall Street is going back to school.
Comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer — riding high in the polls — rolled out a safe, low-risk 30-second spot, touting his education record as governor.
A female voice lauds Spitzer, over images of kids playing musical chairs. A racially diverse set of children lose their seats, one by one, as man in a suit takes away chairs.
“When school dollars don’t go where they’re needed, our kids get left out and left behind,” the voice said. “As governor, Eliot Spitzer provided historic funding New York City schools. So as comptroller, he’s going to make sure it stays that way and that every kid gets every chance to succeed.”
Interestingly, the spot didn’t mention Spitzer’s baggage as a disgraced governor forced out of office by his prostitution scandal.
In the TV ad Spitzer has run the most, a voice gently acknowledges the humiliating chapter of his life — and cast this comptroller run as the return of “an old friend.”
“So odds are, you’ll soon be hearing from the corridors of power, because they know the people of this city are about to welcome back an old friend,” the ad claimed.
Spitzer holds a double-digit lead over Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.in the most recent polls.
It wasn’t immediately clear if this 30-second ad is the same one that Spitzer shot earlier this month at Harlem Prep Charter School.
He paid kids, ages 5 to 8, of supporters to act in the spot. Normally, public schools cannot be used for political and commercial shoots.
But charter schools are exempt from the Department of Education regulation, making the Spitzer campaign’s use of Harlem Prep shoot in bounds.