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Eliot Spitzer’s resurrection — from the disgraced gov ernor better known as Cli ent 9 to CNN talk-show host — has the political class buzzing about him running for mayor in 2013. Wilder still, one of his former targets is talking about running against him.
Former New York Stock Exchange chief Dick Grasso — one of the highest-profile targets of Spitzer’s uneven assault on Wall Street — has quietly been telling friends that he’s leaning toward challenging Spitzer as a Republican (particularly if Police Commissioner Ray Kelly doesn’t seek the GOP nomination himself, as some speculate he will).
Sure, Grasso (a Jackson Heights native) has no political experience, unless you consider his long years as NYSE chief, before he was forced out in 2003 amid the controversy over his massive compensation package. But ever since he beat back Spitzer’s charges that he’d improperly collected tens of millions in salary as the head of the NYSE back in 2008, Grasso’s been dropping hints to reporters that he may run for public office, possibly mayor.
And I’m told that Grasso’s enraged at Spitzer’s resurrection, as the liberal media and left-wing documentarians paint him as a force for pure good during his days as AG over the pure evil that were his Wall Street targets (Grasso included).
First a few caveats. The Grasso-for-mayor notion is a longshot (Grasso, who didn’t return a phone call, is known for playing practical jokes), and the Spitzer-for-mayor scenario is far from a layup.
The idea is that Spitzer, the son of a near-billionaire real-estate magnate, would run as as a self-financed independent, a la Mike Bloomberg. But he’s got baggage that Bloomberg, for all his crass temperament, didn’t have in 2001 — starting with his record in state politics.
“Polarizing” doesn’t capture the Spitzer effect: During his short stint as governor, he was widely despised even by many fellow Democrats as a bully, threatening or throwing temper tantrums at the slightest provocation. Who needs a tough-talking lightweight as mayor?
For the record, a CNN flack says Spitzer has “no plans” to run for mayor and “is happy doing the show.” Yet Spitzer is clearly fantasizing about a run, I’m told by several prominent city Democrats.
His fantasies have been buttressed, I also hear, by his ego-inflating experience as a CNN host (despite its lousy ratings) and the favorable treatment he got in “Client 9,” the documentary about his rise and fall, as well as in “Inside Job,” the Oscar-winning documentary on the financial crisis.
In both cases, because he was basically saying what they wanted to hear, the directors let him claim that he’d always been on the side of the angels, and that he brought cases that would have stopped the financial crisis if vigorously pursued by the feds.
Sorry: In reality, his work as AG was profoundly uneven. He brought a few good cases, but (as I wrote in Tuesday’s Post) never won in court — not a single one against a major player, Grasso included. He went after headlines, not substance, which is why his record in court was so lousy. He cut deals, allowing big banks to pay fines and escape real reform. Does anyone really believe he “reformed” Wall Street research?
And he might have actually abetted the crisis. He drove out Hank Greenberg as CEO of AIG over accounting irregularities; it was new management put in place to appease Spitzer that let one unit take insane risks, digging the hole that led to AIG’s downfall — a key ingredient in the broader financial collapse.
On top of that, there’s his sorry record as governor — losing every political fight he picked with the entrenched interests; the pathetic “Troopergate” scandal, and the even sadder prostitution mess.
So here’s hoping that the absurd actually becomes reality, and Spitzer goes toe-to-toe with Grasso, who won’t be bashful about pointing all this out. I know Grasso is game, but somehow I think Spitzer will chicken out rather than face the possibility of a more balanced depiction of his record.
Charles Gasparino is a Fox Business Network senior corre spondent and the author of “Bought and Paid For.”