Only time will tell whether the new state Commission on Government Integrity can effect any change in the ethical climate in Albany.

While the new commission might be a start, there still needs to be more independent oversight in Albany because without it, transparency in government will remain clouded.

The new commission merges the state Ethics Commission and Lobbying Commission. Gov. Eliot Spitzer initiated the change when he mandated tougher rules on his staff regarding gifts, honorariums and the like.

But there are several flaws, the biggest being that the new commission has no power over the state Legislature. As part of the merger deal, Spitzer agreed to let legislators keep their own ethics panel, whose members are appointed by the Legislature. So in effect, they are policing themselves.

- The Observer-

Dispatch, Utica

Rudy Giuliani has been married three times, is estranged from his children, is not perceived as very religious, supports legal abortion, gay rights and gun control.

He's also the leading Republican candidate for president, and in that striking fact lies the possibility of salvation for the Republican Party.

The fact is that not all Republicans oppose abortion; many favor gay rights; lots of them think gun control is a good idea. Just as Democrats nominated a pro life Senate candidate last year, Republicans are going to have to give some ground if they are going to attract the kinds of candidates and independent-minded voters they need.

Were Giuliani to be nominated, Republicans might accomplish the same thing Democrats did when they nominated Bill Clinton: They got over their self-destructive insistence on ideological purity.

- The Buffalo News