Democrats Set Up NY State Nominees

To few people's surprise, NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was named the Democratic nominee this fall's Governor's race. And when you get the nomination, it's not just time to be kissy-poo - it's a time to get dirty. Some hilarious comments after Spitzer's nominations, via the NY Times:

- Assemby Speaker Sheldon Silver called Governor Pataki's terms a "12-year-long plague."
- Governor Pataki's office said, "After almost eight years as Shelly Silver's silent partner in Albany, Rip Van Spitzer today awoke from his slumber to talk about ethics in government. New York's top law enforcement official needs to look no further than across the convention hall and see his pal Speaker Silver for the most obvious source of concern. From Michael Boxley to Ryan Karben, Speaker Silver routinely conducts the affairs of the Assembly majority with the secrecy of the old Kremlin and the ethics of Tammany Hall. New Yorkers deserve better. Even old Rip Van Spitzer knows that."

Rip Van Spitzer! Plagues! Awesome! What with Spitzer calling Ground Zero's slow development an "Enron-style debacle" and an "abject failure," this might be an exciting war of the words! And Spitzer's running mate is State Senator David Paterson of Harlem - son of Basil Paterson, former NY Secretary of State and the lawyer for the Transport Workers Union on the arbitration panel.

And in a less publicized, though still very bitter, race, the son of the last Democrat in the Governor's Mansion, Andrew Cuomo, was chosen as the Democratic nominee for State Attorney General over Mark Green, the bridesmaid of Democratic NYC mayoral workings. And we love this photo of Andrew and Mario playing ball!

The Republican have their state convention today and tomorrow - and it'll be messy, as they need to choose nominees to face off against Spitzer and Hillary Clinton for the Senate seat.