Eliot Spitzer doesn't waste any time acknowledging the obvious in a new ad supporting his campaign for New York City Comptroller. "Look, I failed. Big time. I hurt a lot of people," he says, without actually using the words "prostitution ring," "Mann Act," or "skirting my own campaign reform laws on a technicality."

When former governor Eliot Spitzer announced his intention to run for New York City comptroller last week, he told the New York Times, "I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it."

The crowd of reporters outside the Lipstick Building yesterday evening crammed close enough to Eliot Spitzer to spot a patch of salt-and-pepper stubble that the disgraced former governor had missed on the underside of his otherwise clean-shaven chin. Spitzer—who stammered a bit when a passerby yelled “ELIOT, YOUR DATE IS HERE!”—was on his way into a “petitioning party” at building’s ground floor restaurant.

New York's "comptroller" candidates aren't sure about the proper pronunciation of "comptroller." What's your preference?

Fortune Magazine just posted an interview with America's favorite hooker-loving ex-governor, Eliot Spitzer. He wants to stage a comeback. Now the question is: How long before we start getting the mailers?