I've received quite a few letters speculating how the Customer No. 9 scandal might impact the Democratic presidential race. Two theories are dominant: 1) HILLARY WILL BE HURT. The thinking here is that Spitzer's dalliances will remind them of the Clintons' worst and most venal moments (in spite of the obvious difference that Bill Clinton was a comparative bargain-hunter next to the spendthrift Spitzer regarding extramarital shenanigans). The facts that Spitzer is part of the extended Clinton political family, shares a state with the former First Lady and even endorsed her will further wound the Hillary campaign. 2) OBAMA WILL BE HURT. The thinking here is that Spitzer was a guy who promised squeaky clean politics that would be about values and looking out for the little guy and other high-minded rubbish. With Spitzer having been revealed as a charlatan, voters might be more inclined to more seriously scrutinize politicians who slot themselves in the "Savior" category. What's more, Spitzer falls into the young politician category who gave people a lot of hope, or at least gave unthinking liberal people a lot of hope. Seriously, you should take a brief romp through the leftwing blogs and see how these people were convinced that Spitzer was a saintly progressive figure who would become the first Jewish president. My reaction to both of these theories, and I'm quoting here, is "meh." Spitzer is truly one of a kind. His sins are his own, as is his ugly, pugilistic style. As for people who felt a rush of anti-Clinton nostalgia upon hearing yesterday's news, I would wager most such people were uniformly Republicans and wake up with a bout of low-level anti-Clinton nostalgia virtually every day. Regarding the Obama theory, there's a certain type of person out who will steadfastly refuse to admit that there's no such thing as a perfect politician. (Or at least they won't admit it until President Obama is still fighting in Iraq eighteen months after his Inaugural Ball.) In bygone days, such people would have been following false Messiahs into the Holy Land or wagering heavily on the Patriots to beat the Bears in Super Bowl XX. To think that this Spitzer thing is suddenly going to introduce a dose of rationality to Obama's supporters strikes me as a bit fanciful.