Spitzer Dumps License Plan for Illegals

Spitzer successor Paterson is known as progressive, conciliator

(NEWSER) - He's nothing like the New York governor who precedes him, but David Paterson brings skills that could take him far in Albany—and question marks, too. The lieutenant governor had been ready to move into Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, Politico reports, but arrives instead at the statehouse with a reputation as a unifier directly at odds with steamrolling Eliot Spitzer. More»

Shrink says it's time women balked at helping with cleanup

(NEWSER) - Silda Wall Spitzer, the Harvard-educated lawyer who stood grimly alongside her husband during his somewhat perplexing apology yesterday, joins the ranks of political wives who suffer publicly the sex scandals of their disgraced mates, ABC writes. She follows in the footsteps of Larry Craig's wife, Suzanne; Jim McGreevey's then-wife, Dana: and, of course, Hillary Clinton, an exception in that she didn't share the podium with Bill at his nadir. More»

Candidates pay heed to delegates, not just overall state wins

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is all but ceding Saturday's South Carolina primary to Barack Obama, just one variation of the political calculus Democratic presidential candidates are using ahead of Super Tuesday primaries February 5, the Washington Post reports. Clinton will spotlight states with personal history—Arkansas and New York—and two with delegate counts—California and New Jersey. More»

FBI probes contributions from 'straw donors'

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton's campaign will return $850,000 raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, a fugitive from a 1991 fraud conviction who turned himself in and then skipped out on a Bay Area court hearing last week. Clinton had planned to give $23,000 from Hsu to charity, but has since decided to return all funds raised by Hsu from 260 donors. More»

(NEWSER) - GOP frontrunners Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are trading heated barbs over immigration, each accusing the other of a weak stance on illegals. Through radio ads and campaign speeches, both candidates are looking to rally the conservative GOP base, the Washington Post reports—though neither man has solid conservative credentials on the issue. More»