Modesty Becomes Him

Eliot "Trial by Press Release" Spitzer wears the humble, staid demeanor he honed as attorney general into the governor's mansion :

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was unabashed on Wednesday about declaring himself a "steamroller" and the most accomplished governor in the history of the state after three weeks on the job.

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else," the Democratic governor told Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco in a private conversation last week, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

"I've done more in three weeks than any governor has done in the history of the state," Spitzer also said, the Post reported.

Asked at a news conference if the comments were inappropriately boastful, Spitzer replied tersely, "No. Next question."

Dave Weigel wrote on Spitzerian federalism last August.