The Huffington Post just hired another VIP's child, this one the son of White House senior adviser David Axelrod. Funny how a website famous for not paying bloggers finds room on the payroll for an undistinguished corps of rich kids.

The idea that Eliot Spitzer's downfall was engineered by the financial industry whose profits he threatened with regulation has made the rounds on the internet for a while. Now Vanity Fair is siccing two investigative reporters on the story.

Eliot Spitzer always felt most comfortable as an outsider crusading against entrenched interests. He felt second-most-comfortable wearing black socks and screwing hookers bareback while choking them. Two is over, but Goldman Sachs' gluttony offers him another shot at Number One.

The nice thing about Eliot Spitzer's post-politics career? He's still in politics. But because he doesn't have an office to run for all the time, he's basically saying whatever he wants. Like calling the Federal Reserve a "ponzi scheme."

Sunday's Daily News featured a gossip item in which a hooker who worked for the same escort agency frequented by Eliot Spitzer claims that she serviced another sitting American governor on three occasions. Who could it be? Let's speculate recklessly!

Mark Sanford's press conference. Did you watch that performance? Wow. He just... he just kept going. How did it compare to some classic political meltdowns of the past? Favorably!

Maybe it's just us, but if you're going to announce a televised interview with Eliot Spitzer, you might want to leave the whole "intimate evening" bit out of it. [Marketwire, EOS New York]

• Paris Hilton reportedly broke up with boyfriend Doug Reinhardt after she saw him partying with a "Texas beauty queen" named Kendhal Beal. The heiress responded by throwing a fit (and some fruit and ice in Beal's direction). But don't you worry about Paris. She's got her dependable sister by her side. And she's already moved on to someone new, namely soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. [P6, People]
• Madonna will be performing her Kabbalah rituals today with an extra bit of enthusiasm: Malawi's highest court has overturned its previous ruling and has granted her adoption of Mercy James. Justice to the people! [DM]
• Dr. Drew Pinsky of Celebrity Rehab is offering Lindsay Lohan six figures to appear on his VH1 reality show. But only because he cares deeply about her well-being, not because he's interested in ratings or anything. [NYP]

Vanity Fair's John Heilpern invited Eliot Spitzer out to lunch recently. Given VF's apparently recession-proof budget, the Spitz could have proposed feasting on a giant platter of caviar at the Four Seasons. Did he? No, he did not:

June 10 @ 6pm Client no. 9 Spitzer running at the reservoir. Shorter than expected and has gotten chubby. [Submit your own Gawker Stalker sightings to stalker@gawker.com]

Gov. David Paterson has never generated positive poll numbers, but every time the numbers reach a new low, another month passes and they get even worse. According to a survey conducted by the New York Times, Cornell, and NY1—the same one that found that while people generally like Michael Bloomberg, a majority aren't interested in having him serve a third term—just 21 percent of New York voters say they have a favorable view of Paterson, compared to a 26 percent favorability rating for Eliot Spitzer, and seven in 10 respondents said Paterson did not deserve to be elected in 2010. There was one bright spot for the governor who has vowed to make gay marriage legal in New York: Forty-six percent say they favor same-sex marriages, up from 38 percent a year ago. [NYT, previously]

Two politicians who have had a hard time keeping their pants up over the years are celebrating birthdays today. Eliot Spitzer is turning 50; John Edwards is turning 56. Other people blowing out candles today: Gina Gershon is turning 47. Elizabeth Hurley is turning 44. Eric Villency, the furniture store heir and husband of Kimberly Guilfoyle, is 34. Faith Evans is 36. ABC News correspondent Kate Snow is turning 40. Journalist Nat Hentoff turns 84. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is 38. Leelee Sobieski is 27. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn turns 46. Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski is turning 27. Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey is 76. And nightlife impresarios—and business partners—Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm are 32 and 31, respectively.

It's been a year a half since Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor, but there's some fresh news today about his ties to the Emperor's Club V.I.P. escort service. Court records unsealed at yesterday's sentencing of Temeka Rachelle Lewis, one of the agency's bookers, reveal that Spitzer hooked up with Emperor's Club prostitutes for 18 months to 2 years, met the ladies in "cities outside New York and Washington," employed a variety of aliases, and often paid for their services via postal money orders. In totally unrelated—but interesting—Spitzer family news, WWD reports today that the former governor's daughter will be spending the summer interning at the Huffington Post. Let's hope more embarrassing Spitzer news doesn't surface between now and September. Things could really get awkward around HuffPo's offices! [NYT, WWD]

Ever find yourself laying in bed at night just looking up at the ceiling and wondering, "Gee, I wonder how often Eliot Spitzer paid for sex with whores?" Sure you have! We've all been there. Well finally we have an answer—-A lot!

The reason Eliot Spitzer was a terrible governor was not because he liked hookers. It was because he was an asshole who was unable to get along with anyone. This hasn't changed.

If there's anyone who'd want to take Steve Rattner—the media-savvy financier-cum-auto-czar who is embroiled in a pay-to-play pension scandal—down a notch, it would be fearless Wall Street bulldog Eliot Spitzer, right? Wrong.

Eliot Spitzer, the prostitute-hiring ex-governor of New York, has been seen in public with his wife, Silda, for the first time since he confessed to paying for sex with aspiring musician Ashley Dupré.

• Eliot and Silda Spitzer made their first public appearance together last night. The couple turned up at the Waldorf for the eighth annual Children's Benefit Gala and were spotted holding hands and making "lovey-dovey looks at each other." Unconditional love is a beautiful thing. [NYDN]
• The stress over the Kiefer Sutherland/Jack McCollough incident must be getting to Brooke Shields: She was spotted looking "upset, overwhelmed and stressed" at the Innocence Project gala on Wednesday night. On a related note, the desk appearance ticket Kiefer received yesterday means he will be a free man until he shows up in court on June 21. [NYDN, NYP]
• Lindsay Lohan's 15-year-old sister Ali has reportedly dropped out of high school so she can party full-time with her big sister. Good work, Dina. [P6]
• Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are expecting girls when their surrogate gives birth in a few weeks. [OK!]

Eliot Spitzer was not quite ready for media cameras back in the fall, but Bravo still managed to get him on camera while shooting the Real Housewives of New York City that aired tonight.

A new poll indicates that New Yorkers would rather have disgraced former governor Eliot Spitzer running the show than current governor David Paterson. When given the choice to pick any of the last four governors to lead the state, just eight percent picked Paterson. It's unclear if this means that Paterson now more unpopular than ever, or if it's because Spitzer's campaign to redeem himself is finally paying off, but we'll leave that to you to decide. [NYP]