Spitzer Calls Cuomo Dirty and Nasty as New Poll Calms Democrats' Fears

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer lashed out at fellow Democrat and New York gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo on CNN today, calling Cuomo, behind the scenes, "the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there."

"When his father [Mario] was governor, he was the tough guy," Spitzer added of the New York attorney general. "He has brass knuckles and he played hard ball. He has a lot of enemies out there. Nobody's been willing to stand up to him. When it appeared he was going to win, it was inevitable. If it appears not to be inevitable, things may change."

But the sense of inevitability might have returned for Cuomo to some degree thanks to a new poll that shows the Democrat with a wide lead over GOP nominee Carl Paladino. The Siena poll found that Cuomo leads Paladino by 33 points among registered voters.

Yesterday, a poll of likely voters from Quinnipiac found Cuomo with just a six-point lead over Paladino, a Tea Party-backed millionaire who was the surprise winner in the GOP primary.

The Quinnipiac poll prompted hand-wringing from supporters of Cuomo, who was thought to be the clear favorite in the race. Democratic officials told the New York Times in the wake of the poll that Cuomo needed to galvanize his base and confront Paladino directly.