ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, having come up a bit short with tough, has apparently decided to try nice.
The seeming shift in strategy - Spitzer denies there is one - came into focus Wednesday as he held his first public meeting with legislative leaders since they battled over a new state budget.
Relations have been particularly rocky in recent weeks between Spitzer and state Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno as the two have traded charges over the Democratic governor's demand for an overhaul of New York's notoriously lax campaign donation limits. Meanwhile, Bruno was pushing for legislation that could provide a pay raise to state judges and lawmakers, who haven't had one since 1999.
At their meeting Wednesday, Spitzer said he still considered campaign finance reform a top priority.
“I wouldn't recommend we get bogged down with that,” Bruno countered. “I would recommend we move past that.”
Spitzer, who just two weeks earlier had railed against Bruno and the Senate GOP as being “unwilling to break their addiction to the free flow of money” and said it was “a narcotic to which they are beholden,” was all smiles.
“In terms of the climate, Joe, let me say this, the climate changes. Look at the sky today,” said Spitzer. “It's a gorgeous day out there.”
“It's going to rain tomorrow,” said an obviously skeptical Bruno.
Later in the meeting, Bruno cautioned the governor that if progress were to be made on other issues, Spitzer had to become less confrontational.
“We ought to be at peace ... and not in campaign mode, because campaigns aren't for another year,” Bruno said to the governor who, four months earlier, described himself to another legislative leader as a “steamroller” who would “roll over you or anyone else.”
Spitzer assured Bruno that his goal now was “to keep the skies blue and the air clear.”
A couple hours later, Spitzer staged a news conference with representatives from a half dozen government reform groups who announced they were taking the battle for campaign finance reform on the road with forums across the state and other efforts. That road-trip strategy was one kicked off by Spitzer himself two weeks earlier with attacks on individual GOP senators in their home districts. The governor abandoned that effort after a few days.
Asked about turning over the work to the outside groups, Spitzer said that was not the case.
“We will be doing it in tandem,” said the governor.
“I will be traveling and talking. I will be heard,” added Spitzer. But, he once again avoiding any direct attack on Bruno or the Senate GOP. In fact, Spitzer said he expected to be having “a civil conversation about issues that we care about.”
That was a far cry from Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson a week earlier when she said: “Senator Bruno and the Senate majority talk a lot about getting priorities straight, yet their clear priority seems to be raising their own pay over passing real reform - the ultimate misstatement of priorities.”
From his event with the government reform groups, Spitzer then headed for a mid-afternoon speech to the state Democratic Committee, the sort of audience generally ready for some red-meat rhetoric and GOP bashing. There was little of that from the “new” Spitzer.
Asked about that afterward, Spitzer said: “I like to think I never attacked Joe Bruno. I believe this is akin to a sporting contest - you play hard when you're on the field. It's not personal. No matter what you do, you disagree and play within the boundaries, shake hands and go on.”
And, the governor said again that he wasn't changing.
“I will make the substantive arguments, make them aggressively, make them throughout the state, make them in districts where I disagree with senators,” he said. “So, it's not as though I'm changing that notion of holding legislators accountable for their views. I believe in that. But, it's not personal.”
Then, he again held out the olive branch.
“If at times it has been interpreted as being personal with individuals, I either apologize if it was something I said or it was misconstrued,” Spitzer said. “I like Joe. We disagree. There are cross words sometimes, but it's never personal.”
The old adage is: You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
---
Marc Humbert has covered New York state politics for The Associated Press for more than 25 years. He can be reached via e-mail at: mhumbert(at)ap.org.
AP-ES-05-12-07 1339EDT
Relations have been particularly rocky in recent weeks between Spitzer and state Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno as the two have traded charges over the Democratic governor's demand for an overhaul of New York's notoriously lax campaign donation limits. Meanwhile, Bruno was pushing for legislation that could provide a pay raise to state judges and lawmakers, who haven't had one since 1999.
At their meeting Wednesday, Spitzer said he still considered campaign finance reform a top priority.
“I wouldn't recommend we get bogged down with that,” Bruno countered. “I would recommend we move past that.”
Spitzer, who just two weeks earlier had railed against Bruno and the Senate GOP as being “unwilling to break their addiction to the free flow of money” and said it was “a narcotic to which they are beholden,” was all smiles.
“In terms of the climate, Joe, let me say this, the climate changes. Look at the sky today,” said Spitzer. “It's a gorgeous day out there.”
“It's going to rain tomorrow,” said an obviously skeptical Bruno.
Later in the meeting, Bruno cautioned the governor that if progress were to be made on other issues, Spitzer had to become less confrontational.
“We ought to be at peace ... and not in campaign mode, because campaigns aren't for another year,” Bruno said to the governor who, four months earlier, described himself to another legislative leader as a “steamroller” who would “roll over you or anyone else.”
Spitzer assured Bruno that his goal now was “to keep the skies blue and the air clear.”
A couple hours later, Spitzer staged a news conference with representatives from a half dozen government reform groups who announced they were taking the battle for campaign finance reform on the road with forums across the state and other efforts. That road-trip strategy was one kicked off by Spitzer himself two weeks earlier with attacks on individual GOP senators in their home districts. The governor abandoned that effort after a few days.
Asked about turning over the work to the outside groups, Spitzer said that was not the case.
“We will be doing it in tandem,” said the governor.
“I will be traveling and talking. I will be heard,” added Spitzer. But, he once again avoiding any direct attack on Bruno or the Senate GOP. In fact, Spitzer said he expected to be having “a civil conversation about issues that we care about.”
That was a far cry from Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson a week earlier when she said: “Senator Bruno and the Senate majority talk a lot about getting priorities straight, yet their clear priority seems to be raising their own pay over passing real reform - the ultimate misstatement of priorities.”
From his event with the government reform groups, Spitzer then headed for a mid-afternoon speech to the state Democratic Committee, the sort of audience generally ready for some red-meat rhetoric and GOP bashing. There was little of that from the “new” Spitzer.
Asked about that afterward, Spitzer said: “I like to think I never attacked Joe Bruno. I believe this is akin to a sporting contest - you play hard when you're on the field. It's not personal. No matter what you do, you disagree and play within the boundaries, shake hands and go on.”
And, the governor said again that he wasn't changing.
“I will make the substantive arguments, make them aggressively, make them throughout the state, make them in districts where I disagree with senators,” he said. “So, it's not as though I'm changing that notion of holding legislators accountable for their views. I believe in that. But, it's not personal.”
Then, he again held out the olive branch.
“If at times it has been interpreted as being personal with individuals, I either apologize if it was something I said or it was misconstrued,” Spitzer said. “I like Joe. We disagree. There are cross words sometimes, but it's never personal.”
The old adage is: You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
---
Marc Humbert has covered New York state politics for The Associated Press for more than 25 years. He can be reached via e-mail at: mhumbert(at)ap.org.
AP-ES-05-12-07 1339EDT
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