Terry McMahon's Awesome Blog

I worked in the New York State Office of the Attorney General the summer after my first year in law school. I was so proud to work for an AG who was willing to step up when the incompetent and politicized federal Department of Justice wouldn't. Sure, a lot of those Wall Street indictments turned out to have been based on thin evidence, but at the time I was thrilled that my boss was a bold and strong Democrat.

I first met the AG when the interns were shepherded into a small room in groups of about 30 at a time to hear him speak. I found out later that a lot of his anecdotes were taken from his stump speech, but he seemed at once fresh, innovative, brilliant, and above all else a friendly and normal guy who just happened to be unbelievably good at both politics and the law. I was a believer. Best of all, we got photos with him, as a group, and I was slick enough to stand right next to him in our photo. We got the photos back a few weeks later: I looked great, the AG looked great, and the photo was too blurry to make out much of anything besides our identities. Still, it was a real treat to meet him.

The next time I met Eliot Spitzer was after he became governor of New York. I was helping out the Edwards campaign on some of their NYC fundraisers, which mostly meant that I stood around at a table in front and checked people in to the art gallery or ridiculous Upper East Side condo hosting the event. One night, we realized that the apartment, while enormous, had no natural place to put the table, so we just set up shop in the building's lobby as the residents came and went around us. The setup was a little weird, but the evening went by without incident until one of the residents walked in. "Hey governor," I said, and sure enough, Eliot Spitzer just so happened to live there. He graciously came over and talked to us poor schlubs for a couple of minutes, though I'm sure he didn't feel like it at the end of a long day. Again, he was charming and friendly.

I've met a fair number of politicians, and they are almost always underwhelming in person. I don't hold it against any of them, since neither charisma nor brilliance is really part of the job description. Still, being around Eliot Spitzer felt like a genuinely rare experience: meeting someone supremely talented who was actually living up to his potential while still being a nice guy. I was sure Spitzer would become president someday, even after his shaky first year as governor. I assumed that this Princeton/Harvard Law guy, with his limitless ambition, bold policies, and alpha-male personality, needed an experience like this, where he'd get smacked down for the first time in his life and finally learn humility. The last piece of the puzzle.

I guess it doesn't matter how badly that photo turned out. I've cared about politicians who have lost. I've cared about politicians who have been caught up in scandals. I've cared about politicians who have made me proud even if they couldn't come through in the clutch. I've just never felt let down before. I guess it's one thing if a politician turns out to do something so colossally unexpected that you have no idea to react. I'm certainly surprised that Eliot Spitzer was involved in prostitution, but I thought he had moved past the arrogance of thinking he could do that kind of thing and have a successful political career too. I guess I just thought this was the kind of bad habit that could be fixed with a little effort.

Maybe it's tougher than that, and it's unfair to expect someone to fix their unfortunate personality traits once they're elected to high office. It would be a shame if that were true. Governor, I'm sorry this is the end. I really hoped.