The conservative New York Post tabloid, with a deep sigh of defeat, has endorsed Democratic scion Andrew Cuomo over Republican gay club kingpin Carl Paladino in the New York gubernatorial race. Was it something Paladino said?

It most likely didn't earn Paladino any points at the Post when he threatened to murder them. That was funny, in case you missed it.

But how does the Post get its shots in here, to save face after endorsing an actual Democrat in 2010? By framing its criticism of Paladino as a second coming of... Eliot Spitzer!

Remember how Eliot Spitzer was going to fix Albany, starting on Day One? Didn't quite work out.

The former attorney general was spectacularly unfit for the office he won in a landslide four years ago — as a policymaker, as a politician and as a human being.

Spitzer's legacy is David Paterson, an amiable fellow who in his own bumbling way was even less qualified for high office than his damaged-goods patron.

But whereas four years ago the Republican Party offered the estimable John Faso as its gubernatorial candidate, this year the man at the top of the GOP ticket is a Buffalo businessman with a towering temper and a well-documented contempt for the truth.

Spitzer Lite, in an elephant suit.

Okay, Spitzer's arrogance made for a rocky quarter-term as governor, but... really? Carl Paladino is a "lite" version of Eliot Spitzer, so that's why they can't endorse him? We hadn't heard that line of reasoning yet, but okay!

[Image via AP]