Charles Kaiser on the media's coverage of Spitzer-gate

Stephen Colbert Was Ahead of the Curve

Last night, Colbert declared that "the Clinton campaign is now hopelessly crippled by its deep involvement in a sex-for-money bombshell." On Monday, that seemed like nothing more than his best laugh line of the night. Twelve hours later, lots of people were taking that story line seriously.

Agence-France Presse was first on the ground in Mississippi to report a voter swing because of the Spitzer sex-for-pay scandal. One voter told the French news agency: "[T]he scandal reminded her too much of former president Bill Clinton's own troubles stemming from an affair with a White House intern. 'I actually love Mrs. Clinton, but when that came on TV yesterday about this man [Spitzer], it changed my mind completely,' said the voter."

David Letterman also made the connection on Monday. Number one on his list of Spitzer's top 10 excuses: "I thought Bill Clinton legalized this years ago."

Today blogger and PR guru Ned Barnett expanded on the theme: "The real reason why Senator Hillary Clinton is the real loser is simple: Here, in the 10th anniversary year of the Monica Lewinsky meltdown, the last thing Senator Clinton needs is for America to be reminded of the facts and details surrounding her husband Bill's exploitative tryst with intern Monica Lewinsky. Yet today's fallen political unfaithful husband, Eliot Spitzer, will do nothing so much as he will remind America of that other unfaithful political husband ... Bill Clinton."

(Barnett also pointed out that Howard Wolfson's comparison of the Obama campaign to Ken Starr was a huge blunder: "It brought up what may be the most shameful and painful part of Senator Clinton's life—and the last thing she needs is for people to start remembering what her tenure in the White House was really like.")

In the Washington Post, Dana Milbank pointed out, "In selecting the Mayflower, [Spitzer] chose the same hotel believed to have been used for assignations by John F. Kennedy, and the very place where Monica Lewinsky stayed when she testified about her tryst with Bill Clinton.

The Associated Press also thought the Spitzer mess was a blow to Clinton, who recently had intensified her criticism of rival Barack Obama's relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a political patron on trial in federal court in Obama's hometown of Chicago for alleged fraud and corruption.

Except for El Diario, which went with the straightforward "VERGÜENZA!" ["Shame!"], local tabloid headlines were a little disappointing, with the Post going with "HO NO!" and the Daily News choosing "PAY FOR LOVE GUV." (Among New York magazine's unused suggestions: NAILED, SCREWED, SPENT, RING STING, and HOOK, LINE & SPITZER.)