Why Eliot Has What It Takes to Make Real Change In Albany

Our new governor Eliot Spitzer has made it clear that he is committed to change and good clear government as he stands up against the democratically controlled assembly over controversy surrounding five candidates that were chosen by an independent panel for the empty comptroller seat. Assembly Majority Leader Shelden Sliver has expressed extreme displeasure in the fact that none of the candidates recommended by the panel are Assemblymen and has been trying to pressure Elliot into choosing an Assemblyman, which our new governor has refused to do. Spitzer is in many ways showing the State Democrats that Albany is a new town one that is transparent and ready for real change. Here is an excerpt yesterday the New York Times, which shows how dramatic this all has been up in Albany:

"Mr. Silver spent Friday mulling his options and trying to cool down members of the Assembly, who are furious at what they perceive as a slight. Some of Mr. Spitzer’s deputies are reaching out to the Assembly to take its temperature — trying to see how much political capital the administration used up on the comptroller fight the week before it releases its first budget proposal.

Mr. Silver is in a particularly sensitive position. If he accepts a candidate from outside the Assembly for comptroller, he risks incurring the wrath of the members of his conference, whose support he needs to remain speaker. But if he reneges on the deal he publicly made with Governor Spitzer, he could find himself in an all-out war with the governor’s office fresh off Mr. Spitzer’s landslide victory.

“I think we’re at war, but I’m not sure,” said one Assembly Democrat, who was granted anonymity to describe the private machinations in the Assembly. “This is a clash of the titans, and I don’t know how this plays out.”