Hotline After Dark -- A Special Scandal Edition

It was, of course, talk of Eliot Spitzer that dominated cable news last night:

CNN's Crowley: "I think this could actually go either way. I think it's very tough and you'd have to weigh on the side of he'll probably resign. But I would also say you have to watch the Democrats. Watch what leading Democrats say about him. Right now, they've kind of said well, my thoughts and prayers are with the family, I don't know much about it, let's see what happens, that kind of thing. I think it's survivable. But I think you'd have to bet on the non-survivable side at this point. We don't know the full story yet" ("Situation Room," 3/10).

FNC's O'Reilly: "Elected officials cannot lead double lives. Spitzer was elected to enforce the law. He can't be violating it the same time" ("O'Reilly Factor," 3/10).

Dem strategist James Carville: "I smell a rat here. This thing has gone really overboard. I wonder who is behind the information. ... Obviously he did something wrong. I don't think he should resign just because he saw a prostitute one or two times. Now there may be something much deeper to this story than that, but based on what I've seen so far, I mean it's not right. ... I've got to think that if there's not more to this I wonder if there's not something political shenanigans underneath this" ("Situation Room," CNN, 3/10).

Under the cut, more Spitzer talk, including the legal implications and whether or not he will resign. [EMILY GOODIN]

MSNBC's Abrams: "Most of the time, they don't charge the johns. ... But when the john is the governor of the state of New York, and the case is being scrutinized the way this one is, I think that Eliot Spitzer could really be in some serious legal jeopardy, if all of these allegations are true" ("Hardball," 3/10).

Law prof. Alan Dershowitz: "I don't think he should face criminal charges for federal charges for the actual sex act itself. ... I know nothing about the financial aspects of it. But this is a traditional state misdemeanor case. And, if anything, he should be charged with a class-B misdemeanor, which is a very, very slight offense, because being a john to an adult prostitute who was making $3,000 to $4,000 or $5,000 sounds to me very much like a victimless crime" ("AC 360," CNN, 3/10).

CNN's Toobin: "They often negotiate a plea deal or some sort of resolution, where the public official says, OK, I will plead guilty, or I will resign, but you agree only to charge me with a misdemeanor. His leverage, such as it is at this point, is his office. He can say, I will only resign if you give me a very minor deal. And that is often how situations like this resolve themselves" ("AC 360," 3/10).

RESIGNATION WATCH

New York Daily News' Rush: "I think he can tough it out. I think he's seen the president of the United States live through Lewinsky-gate, an impeachment hearing, and the governor is a pretty tough customer in his own right" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 3/10).

NBC's Mitchell: "It creates the question of hypocrisy. It is similar to other Republican sex scandals that have been homosexual which have raised the question not of private behavior, but of hypocrisy, of behavior that goes against their public statements and persona. And in this case, it is a heterosexual scandal but it goes against his crusading morality. And that may be politically fatal. This could be a case where he has to step down" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 3/10).

New York Times' Healey: "I mean, the Hillary people say that they are not going to call on him publicly or privately to resign. They tend to think that, you know, he is going to go down on his own" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 3/10).

Karl Rove: "My point about Spitzer is that Spitzer made his reputation in part by prosecuting these prostitution rings. He condemned them in very strong language, and now it turns out that he's been tied up with one for apparently a significant period of time, and in a way that ... places him in particular vulnerability, which is he went from New York to Washington, D.C. and had the prostitute cross state lines. And that's not just a state law, that's a federal law as well" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 3/10).

NY Assembly GOP leader Jim Tedisco: "I got a call a couple hours ago from Lieutenant Governor Patterson who constitutionally would move into that position. I won't tell you the extent of the conversation, but the discussion was about the fact that if there was a resignation by Eliot Spitzer and he became the governor, would my conference, my minority Republican conference, give him the benefit of the doubt, work with him, work toward a budget and a better quality of life. And I said absolutely, without question" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 3/10).