With advance apologies for my cynicism:

I've heard that if you are famous or rich, you don't pay for the sex (which would be easy enough to get) you pay so that the girl will go home quietly afterwards.

"The poor wife" probably is as ambitious as her husband, and this is a last ditch attempt to salvage his career and her chance to dine in the White House. And in a weird way, this is her 15 minutes of fame, maybe she will get a book deal out of it like Hillary or Mrs. McGreevy.

And remember Gov. Spitzer had not only access to his money but to almost unlimited funds via his father. If you have big chunks of money and power, many folks go for the trifecta.

Why risk it?

Because he can...

My second husband was a financial flop, I supported him while he played around being an art student. I'm pretty certain he was faithful. Then he got a job doing special effects with a movie studio. Bingo! Money, a fancy car and girls. They were just accessories, like the car. There is an Arab saying, "No man wants to eat out of the same dish every day."

BTW, Mrs. Clinton has never written a book about, or financially profited from, her husband's infidelities. I'm sure it is as painful to a First Lady as it is to a cleaning lady. More so, when the entire country sees your humiliation.

Has gone on since the beginning of recorded history. I do not expect abatement. Seems to me that for every guy who seeks variety, there are always numerous willing partners -- whether money is involved or not. My own suspicion is that getting away with it is much more likely than not.

scarlett2001-

Hillary Clinton wrote the book "Living History", which detailed her side/version/spin of the Lewinsky affair, tell me folks didn't buy the book for that, or was it for her breathless prose on the National Health Care Task Force?

And it helped cement her pose as "Hillary the victim" which we are still seeing played out in the current election cycle.

Sorry if I'm a tad cynical, but I agree with H.L. Menken, who said "The only way a reporter should look at a politician is DOWN".

I don't understand it at all. Men risk everything, family, career, respect of their communities for a couple of minutes of cheap thrills. Politicians, teachers, principals, priest, preachers, the list goes on and on. No amount of money would make me stand beside my man if I knew he was guilty of a sex crime, no matter how minor.

I contend she knew he was capable of those sort of sleazy actions when she married him...but he was "cute" and in a good position.
I believe her open surprise was that he got caught...
But she may have been naive enough to believe that his troubles wouldn't be her's...
Guess again sweetie!
Linda C

"I don't understand it at all. "

Don't be blind. For every pig of a man there are multiple sows awaiting. It has always been thus.

Asolo, I trust your post is not meant to suggest that immoral women outnumber immoral men :) I'd say vice was pretty evenly divided between the sexes, wouldn't you?

My best guess is that she suspected, may or may not have known outright. Maybe told herself it was not such a big deal as he was paying (no emotional component) and paying high prices (hopefully somewhat less chance of disease.) However, I can't imagine she's enjoying having to stand up there after he's been caught. What are the repercussions for the three daughters who are nearly contemporaries of the call girl?

I am guessing that the income bracket has something to do with it-- that fidelity is not as important among the very wealthy. Perhaps money can provide the security that more modest folk find in a faithful spouse. I hope the Governor's wife gets a quid pro quo...

The poor woman looked stricken.
devastated.
gobsmacked.

He did it.

She didn't.

not her fault.

I hope she has a better future.

With a few notable exceptions, most political women are no more moral than their political spouses. They know the trade-off, and they get a lot of perks for playing a role. But just once it would be great fun to see the wronged wife kick the philandering guy to the curb very publicly.

And as a post-script, I'm sure tired of seeing the couple coming to the press conference holding hands. So phoney!

From what I have read Ms. Wall Spitzer is not publicly ambitious. She did not want him to go into politics, she was hoping he would get a "real job" after he lost the attorney general election the first time. I believe she stood up there for their 3 daughters, so that someday they will understand she did what she could for him. He is still their father even if he won't always (maybe) be her husband. Also, if she wasn't there the story only gets bigger. I don't think she cares a bit about dining at the White House.

They have been together for 20+ years. It is very possible he has changed and is not the person she married. It seems very unfair to place any blame on her. In fact, it is possible the financial movements he did (which caught the banks and then IRS attention) were an attempt to hide the money movement from her or their accountants.

Why do men do it? Ego, sex addiction, boredom, power trip, narcissism. Take your pick. I also wouldn't assume she knew.

Quite frankly, Governor Sptizer was my hero, when as Attorney General, he cleaned out a lot of bad in the investment community. He wasn't done, when the politics bug bit him again and he became the Governor. This episode with a hooker has blasted away any hope that I had that there could be some honest poeple in the financial world, some of whom are handling my retirement funds. It has sickened me and reinforced my cynical side. It wasn't so much the tryist with a high priced call girl that bothered me, but it was the hurt and humiliation he caused his family, and the unfaithfulness to the wife. That was unforgiveable. And there is the question of where did the large amount of money come from to finance his foray? This dashes any respect I had for the man. Also, I have nothing but disdain for the woman who would knowingly harm a marriage with children.

I do not know why he dragged his poor wife up to the podium while he made his public confession and apology. And I don't why she complied. You could see on her face abject sadness and horror. If she had refused to "stand behind her man" and stayed in the wings, I would have understood, as I suspect many other would have too.

What drove the man to do this - who knows? He's a little late for the "7 year itch". His children must be mortified; How can they face their claas mates in school?