I lost the bet. Some people here speculated that Eliot Spitzer was done. That there was no way out of his Client 9 conundrum. I thought that the former New York Governor had a chance at redemption.

Governor Spitzer, at his resignation press conference, could have indicated that he was going into therapy, an intensive rehabilitation program. He could have acknowledged that he had an uncontrolled sex addiction. His behaviour had been out of his control. After months of rehabilitation, the former governor could claim recovery, albeit that it required careful day-to-day vigilance. He could return to some form of public life as a ‘healed’ man. Redemption.

The behaviour could have been re-framed as the governor having being exploited by nefarious sources that made him a victim. The governor was exploited but found the way back to health through therapy. - It might have worked. The public likes happy endings and stories of come backs.

To the former governor’s credit, he did not take the rehabilitation route. There is still time to spin.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

Tags: eliot spitzer, therapy, rehabilitation, redemption, spin