Schumer: Spitzer Scandal is a 'Human Tragedy'

Chatting with a few reporters in the hallway on the third floor of the Capitol in Albany this morning, Chuck Schumer said of David Paterson, "It’s not fair to say ‘Oh, he’s going to hit the ground running on day one.’

"He was--we all were--totally shocked and unprepared for this. But he is a great, he learns in every way,” Schumer went on. “I think he’s going to be really good.”

Schumer downplayed the notion that Spitzer's sex scandal will affect a wider swath of Democrats.

“I think most people see this, what happened to Eliot Spitzer, as a human tragedy, far more than a political tragedy, not that different than if this happened--God forbid--to the person in your neighborhood, the person in your church, the person who works in the same office as you do,” he said.

When I asked Schumer what would happen to Spitzer's campaign funds, which, according to the January report, were at about $2.9 million, Schumer said, “Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t even paid attention to that.”