Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who wasted little time lining up a job as a lobbyist in Albany after he stepped down from his elected seat before the end of his term, was among the crowd at the Republican National Convention last week rallying behind John McCain's candidacy.

But unlike most people out there, who focused on the differences between the two leading presidential candidates in terms of their achievements and proposed policies, Bruno thought he could score some points by dragging up the name of Eliot Spitzer.

His message? Barack Obama is like Spitzer, the disgraced former New York governor who resigned amid a prostitution scandal last March. Bruno's reasoning? Both men had charisma and well-crafted media campaigns.

“Who was more articulate than (Spitzer)?” Bruno asked. “Who was more charismatic ... Who had the best Hollywood ads that money could buy? And you know what, for those of you in the press, don't forget it. Articulate. Fancy. Dancey. Prancey. All those kinds of things that made him - 70 percent of the vote. Broke a record, OK? Why? Marketing. Selling. Think about it. Was that for real? Was it?”

What bothers us most about Bruno's comments is not that it was unfair to one of the candidates. In reality, Bruno's impact on the national election outcome is negligible.

It's more troubling because there's a good chance that it foreshadows a common strategy we'll see in the state Legislature races this fall. We've said it before, and we need to say it again. Attempts to degrade political candidates because of some likeness or link to Spitzer are foolish, and voters should ignore them.

Spitzer's downfall was solely his responsibility.

This fall's campaigns should be about which Legislature candidates are best equipped to guide this state through some difficult economic times. Which candidates have the best policy proposals? Which ones have the experience to succeed?

Let's leave Spitzer where he belongs - in the past.