Pearl Gabel/New York Daily News
Eliot Spitzer, trying to rebound from hooker scandal in run for city controller, was blasted as a "hypocrite" in GOP letter, along with fellow disgraced Dems Anthony Weiner and Vito Lopez.
A LBANY ? The return of sex-scandal-scarred pols Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner and Vito Lopez shows that the Democrats offer nothing but talk when it comes to women?s issues, Senate Republicans charge.
?Despite all of their rhetoric about protecting women?s rights, New York Democrats are engaged in a real war on women,? the GOP wrote in a scathing fund-raising letter last week that specifically cited the trio as anti-woman.
?It?s time to stop these hypocrites once and for all.?
Spitzer, the former governor who resigned amid a hooker scandal, is now running for controller; Weiner, the ex-congressman who quit during a sexting scandal, is running for mayor, and Lopez, the one-time powerful assemblyman accused of sexually harassing multiple staffers, is running for City Council.
The letter also criticizes the Assembly Dems for ending the legislative session last month without ensuring that nine of Gov. Cuomo?s 10-point women?s agenda gets passed into law.
The Senate GOP wouldn?t pass the 10th measure, which would strengthen abortion rights, while the Assembly wouldn?t pass a package without it.
The Senate GOP letter asks for donations ?to help us get the message out and continue the fight to ensure equality for New York women and strengthen laws against sexual predators.?
?We need to fight back against the likes of Spitzer, Lopez and Weiner,? the letter states.
Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party, controlled by Cuomo, sent out a fund-raising letter of its own Sunday criticizing the Senate Republicans for engaging in its own war on women by blocking the provision to strengthen abortion rights ? linking them to the recent abortion battle in Texas.
?Republicans in the New York Senate decided to wage an assault on women here in New York and block ? at all costs ? updating New York?s choice laws,? the letter states. ?We will let Republican senators in New York know that if they want to wage war on women they should probably head to Texas. It?s not going to succeed here.?
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Spitzer?s reemergence as a serious candidate could hurt Michael Garcia, the former U.S. attorney who is said to be considering a run next year for state attorney general as a Republican, insiders say.
Garcia was in charge of the prostitution case that brought down then-Gov. Spitzer in 2008. The case resulted in some arrests, but Spitzer was not busted.
?It?s something he is going to have to answer for, particularly if there is a Republican primary,? said one source with ties to Garcia. ?Politically, (the lack of prosecution) becomes an Achilles heel for him.?
Garcia did not return a call for comment.
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The poll rise of Spitzer and Weiner is a blow to Cuomo?s arguments for cleaning up Albany, some close to him say.
?It?s embarrassing,? said one Cuomo source. ?His message is that New York can?t be the most dysfunctional state. We have to fix New York. We have to give the people the elected representatives they deserve.
?Then Eliot and Anthony get in the race and their poll numbers are high. What does that say about the electorate in New York? It?s very frustrating for him.?
Another Cuomo source insisted Cuomo isn?t focused heavily on Spitzer. ?He?s more bemused than anything,? the source said.
klovett@nydailynews.com
Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/news/columnists/~3/73rNWqiAjuk/story01.htm
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