ALBANY -- With pressure mounting to resign Tuesday over a call-girl scandal, Gov. Eliot Spitzer found himself with few friends and lots of powerful enemies, many of whom regard him as a sanctimonious bully who got what was coming to him.

Republicans began talking impeachment, and few if any fellow Democrats were willing to defend him. A death watch of sorts began at the state Capitol, where whispers of "What have you heard?" echoed through nearly every hallway of the ornate, 109-year-old building.

While Spitzer and his family remained secluded in their Fifth Avenue apartment, insiders said the governor was still trying to decide how to proceed. Options included quitting as early as Tuesday afternoon, or waiting to use resignation as a bargaining chip with federal prosecutors to avoid indictment.

Democrats privately floated another option, telling The Associated Press that Spitzer was considering what was almost unthinkable immediately after Monday's bombshell apology: hanging on.

"If the public is fine, he'll stay," said a Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Still, Spitzer's enemies were emboldened, and some of his friends went from shock to outrage.

"Particularly because of the reform platform on which he was elected governor, his ability to govern the state of New York and execute his duties as governor have been irreparably damaged," said Citizen Action, a good-government group that supported the crusading attorney general for governor in 2006 and provided critical support in his effort to reform Albany. "It is our strong belief that it is now impossible for him to fulfill his responsibilities as governor. Accordingly, Citizens Union urges him to resign as governor."

Reporters, government workers and the public milled around the state Capitol on Tuesday, waiting for any developments. News vans lined up around the building, and camera operators sat next to their tripods on the front lawn waiting for something to happen.

The official Democratic line was to give Spitzer time to decide.

"On every level -- the human level, the governmental level -- this is not the time to speculate and guess at the outcome," said Democratic state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. "There's too much at stake."

But privately, several Democrats in the Legislature and in the administration said resignation appeared inevitable.

"He's weighing the rest of his life," one Democratic official said sadly.