New York Governor Spitzer to Resign

The timing couldn't be better: Precisely when the Democrats should be basking in the glow of a crucial off-season special election, this week's media cycle will be consumed by New York's big Democratic Party scandal.

The buzz is that New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, is expected to resign after reports of his solicitation of prostitution. Here's the YouTube of Spitzer's afternoon press conference:

Here's the story from FOX:

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to submit his resignation to the New York General Assembly Monday night after allegations surfaced earlier in the day that he is "Client 9," named in a federal prostitution case.

Four arrests were made last week in connection to the alleged high-dollar ring, known as the Emperors Club VIP. According to a law enforcement official, Spitzer was named in court papers as a client after being taped arranging a meeting with one of the prostitutes.

The New York Times reports that the governor's travel records show he was in Washington in mid-February. It also says one of the ring's clients arranged to meet with a prostitute during that time.

Allahpundit over at Hot Air's got transcripted communications from the prostitute sting indicating that "Client-9" (allegedly Spitzer) "would ask you to do things, like, you might not think were safe..."

Here's the New York Times' story:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who gained national prominence relentlessly pursuing Wall Street wrongdoing, has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed on the investigation.

The wiretap captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The person briefed on the case and the law enforcement official identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Mr. Spitzer, a first term Democrat, today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.” He did not address his political future.

Spitzer's probably the last politician most observers would've expected to get caught up in a prostitution sting. A super-hard-nosed prosecutor who made his mark by hammering ethics, Spitzer's married with three daughters.

About his decline and undoubted fall, Allah warns, "Wife and kids, so schadenfreude isn’t in order."

Well, considering that many argued that the GOP lost the Congress in 2006 due to widespread ethical scandals, I certainly wouldn't mind - over the course of this year - if Spitzer's misfortunes weren't unique within his party.