How would Eliot Spitzer being faring if he was running for re-election?

[Psychic Octopus]

Suppose that whole scandal two years ago never happened, and Eliot Spitzer stayed on as Governor, and ran for re-election. I remember hearing his approval rating was abysmal in early 2008, but would it have improved over time? Anyone care to weigh in?

[Eraserhead]

He'd be squashing Paladino. Hell, he might have been doing that even if he went through the scandal without resigning.

[cinyc]

He'd be squashing Paladino. Hell, he might have been doing that even if he went through the scandal without resigning.

This question is impossible to answer.

You can't assume Paladino would even be the Republican nominee.  No one wanted to run against Cuomo because he was so popular.  If Spitzer were even somewhat unpopular, better Republican candidates may have run in the primary, which changes everything.  Without knowing how hypothetical Governor Spitzer would have been running the state (as ineptly as Paterson?), who knows?

[Nichlemn]

Wouldn't he probably lose in the primary to Cuomo, as Paterson would have had he sought re-election?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

He'd be squashing Paladino. Hell, he might have been doing that even if he went through the scandal without resigning.

This question is impossible to answer.

You can't assume Paladino would even be the Republican nominee.  No one wanted to run against Cuomo because he was so popular.  If Spitzer were even somewhat unpopular, better Republican candidates may have run in the primary, which changes everything.  Without knowing how hypothetical Governor Spitzer would have been running the state (as ineptly as Paterson?), who knows?

better Republican candidates would have run in the primary, but would have been defeated by the Tea-backed Paladino.  If you think Mike Castle was a big trophy for those vultures, could you imagine how much they'd go after Rudy or Pataki?

[redcommander]

He'd be squashing Paladino. Hell, he might have been doing that even if he went through the scandal without resigning.

This question is impossible to answer.

You can't assume Paladino would even be the Republican nominee.  No one wanted to run against Cuomo because he was so popular.  If Spitzer were even somewhat unpopular, better Republican candidates may have run in the primary, which changes everything.  Without knowing how hypothetical Governor Spitzer would have been running the state (as ineptly as Paterson?), who knows?

better Republican candidates would have run in the primary, but would have been defeated by the Tea-backed Paladino.  If you think Mike Castle was a big trophy for those vultures, could you imagine how much they'd go after Rudy or Pataki?

Outside of the gubernatorial race, NY Republicans chose pretty lucid nominees for their statewide races. There is no way that Rudy or Pataki would have been defeated by a Tea Partier. New York is a much larger and more diverse state than Delaware, allowing for it to be more difficult for groups like the Tea Party Express to try and hijack primaries. Look at California for example.