Eliot's New Chair

Now that most of the electoral goals of the state Democratic Party have been accomplished, it's sort of an open question when it comes to the direction Eliot Spitzer will want to go in when he weighs in on the selection of the new chair.

Here's an interesting piece of speculation from one informed Democratic source:

"It really depends... on what they want the party to do and succeed in. If it's to nurture and strengthen the bench then [Nassau Suffolk County Chairman Rich Schaffer] would be good. If they want a caretaker then it could be someone more they trust who will just raise money like [Spitzer fund-raiser] Cindy Darrison.

"She does not have the same level of campaign experience but she is great for money. Rich has been one of our most successful chairs and has won all the major races."

Newsday quoted one lobbyist saying Schaffer is the likely replacement. A lobbyist I spoke with said that Schaffer's not interested in it. (I haven't heard yet either way from Schaffer himself.)

As for Darrison, she wasn't mentioned as a member of Spitzer's transition team today. Spitzer's spokeswoman Christine Anderson said they had no further announcements about personnel.

Any other logical candidates?

-- Azi Paybarah