New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is apparently continuing to waffle over the decision of whether to resign or not:
State government remained paralyzed on Tuesday as Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, was engaged in an intense legal and family debate about whether to resign or, as aides said his wife was urging, to stay on.
Mr. Spitzer did not emerge from his apartment at Fifth Avenue and 80th Street in Manhattan as Albany remained roiled and riveted by the deepening crisis.
The day began with anticipation that the departure of Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat, was imminent and that Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson would assume his job. But it ended with the New York political world in a suspended state, as cries — even from fellow Democrats — grew louder for the governor to step down. Several aides said they expected him to resign on Wednesday, but none knew for certain what would happen.
At this point it doesn’t seem like he has many options. He’s the focus of a Federal investigation that could send him to prison for up to five years. His constituents want him to resign. And, he has no support in his own party:
According to aides, the governor also contemplated the possibility of impeachment charges and the legal ramifications of not resigning. But he was faced with little support among Democrats in the Legislature, with whom he has had an often contentious relationship.
“An impeachment proceeding would force Democrats to either abandon him or defend him,” said one leading Democrat. “They would abandon him.”
(…)
Asked if Mr. Spitzer should resign, Darrel J. Aubertine, a newly elected Democratic senator from upstate New York, who got a big boost from the governor’s political operation in his recent campaign, responded: “If the facts remain the way they are, yes.”
He added, “I’m just disappointed, terribly disappointed.”
Representative Kirsten Gillibrand, a freshman Democrat in a swing district north of New York City, expressed sympathy for the governor’s family, but said his staying in office would be untenable.
“If these serious allegations are true, the governor will have no choice but to resign,” she said.
At this point, the business of governing in the State of New York has effectively ground to a halt while everyone waits on Spitzer’s decision. He needs to get this over with quickly.
