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Ripe for an Analysis
Brooke Masters sketches out the likely Democratic nominee

By Vijay Phulwani

For those who feel they have not heard enough already about gubernatorial frontrunner Eliot Spitzer (D), Brooke Masters’ new book, “Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer,” is an excellent overview of the highlights from his time as attorney general. The book is not, however, an intensely deep analysis of Spitzer’s career or an unguarded picture of him as a person.

As a Wall Street reporter for the Washington Post, Masters has covered Spitzer’s rise to prominence. She really knows the issues involved, and can make complicated securities fraud clear and understandable. Additionally, she has had numerous interviews with Spitzer himself, and the book is full of tidbits gleaned from him and other people involved in the investigations.

The downside of Masters’ background is that she is mainly covering those aspects of Spitzer’s political career that have already been covered. There is little mention of his work defending the state other than to say that this aspect of the job consumes half of his office’s resources. And some things barely get mentioned at all: the Campaign for Fiscal Equality lawsuit gets one paragraph in a 300-page book.

Nevertheless, within the book’s narrow focus, Masters has crafted a terrific narrative. The investigations of Merrill Lynch, Canary Capital Management, and AIG are all first-rate legal dramas. Masters extensively interviewed the deputies and other lawyers at the attorney general’s office who spent nights and weekends combing through all the e-mails and financial transactions involved. Hearing their stories and seeing them get the credit they deserve is one of the great pleasures of this book.

In fact, this leads to what is probably the book’s greatest irony: it can be more compelling when less about Spitzer and more about his staff. There is little new here about Spitzer using his father’s money to pay off loans from his first campaign in 1994, a gaffe that, when revealed, is often seen as almost costing him the 1998 contest, which he only narrowly won.

Want to know more? Brooke Masters will be answering questions submitted by Sept. 1. Submit your question via email to CityHall@manhattanmedia.com and check the website by Sept. 11 to see her responses.

Another strange oversight concerns Spitzer’s top deputy, Michele Hirschman. Apparently when she was a federal prosecutor, and Spitzer worked in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, they had a spat so bad that Hirschman almost refused to work for him later. The book mentions this event several times, but never once tells the reader what this argument actually was. These kinds of insights into Spitzer’s way of doing business might be more useful in deciding what kind of governor he might be.

Still, even if her stories are mostly from family, friends, and public accounts, there are a number of gems among them. Cameo appearances by Rudy Giuliani, John Catsimatidis, Alan Dershowitz, and Warren Buffet all add to the book’s appeal. And accounts of conflicts between Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo during the Clinton years should keep the political rumor mill going well into the election cycle. The pair tried to work together to place new restrictions on the gun industry, but often found themselves at odds over who was really setting the agenda, states or the federal government.

By far the best, though, is Spitzer’s argument with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer at the National Association of Attorneys General Conference. Their R-rated attacks, including Spitzer’s offer “to step outside,” sound more like an early 1990s East vs. West Coast rap feud than an exchange between two of the country’s most powerful lawyers.

If Spitzer wins in November, it will be interesting to see whether he extends this same offer to California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, no stranger to both political and physical infighting.