Something we did not realized happened on Sunday: Governor Eliot Spitzer attended a Nascar race in Watkins Glen, NY (the only NY State town that has a Nascar track, same town where the Farm Sanctuary is located) and was called "the best Jewish Nascar fan" by cable executive and race car driver Leo Hindery. The NY Times explains that his brother-in-law is an engineer at Hendrick Motorsports and that Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon is Spitzer's favorite.
But while Spitzer got to enjoy a Sunday watching cars race around a track over and over again, his Monday was a bit rough. While he was trying to announce economic developments plans for the state yesterday, reporters persisted in asking him if he was making these announcement in the dead of the summer to draw attention away from Troopergate. The Politicker has a transcript, and Spitzer promises that his aides' misdeeds will "fade deep into the background." Well, a Spitzer appointee to the State Ethics Commission has recused himself because he's a Friend of Spitzer, leaving four members left - two Pataki appointees, one from former Comptroller Hevesi and another from Spitzer.
And something interesting from the Sun: When Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued his report (the one that criticized Spitzer's aides from their dirty tricks plotting), he essentially absolved State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno of using state aircraft to shuttle him from Albany to NYC for very short meetings that happened to be on days he had political fundraisers to attend. Cuomo had cited a 1995 opinion that apparently doesn't really exist. Hmmm.
Photograph of Spitzer at the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race by David Duprey/AP.
