It looks like from all the information gleamed from polls that Eliot Spitzer will be our next governor. If you read the recent Quinnapiac University poll, you'd note that Spitzer is polling in nearly 50% ahead of Faso's lackluster 15%. Few people outside of Albany-insiders and Hudson Vally residents, know who Faso, yet is seems unlikely that he will do much against super-star Spitzer.

Spitzer will be our next governor for all of the right reasons. He's a man with a bold image of New York, one who promises to shake up government and make it cleaner and more efficient. If the elections are anything like the most recent poll, he will have a mandate from the voters. Spitzer will clearly use that mandate to make change, if his past actions show anything.

Spitzer stands for all of the right things. He has been a long time supporter of important initiatives such as Clean Money, Clean Elections, the most progressive form of campaign finance reform. He wants to spend more money on environmental protection and roads construction, and get our state moving again. He has all of vision needed for a great New York State.

On the other hand, dreams often languish in politics. Spitzer will inevitably find resistance from Shelly Silver and quite possibly Joe Bruno if he's still around next year. Campaign promises will be forgotten or downplayed as the mess called the state budget falls upon his lap next January. Governing can sure be hard, but if Spitzer follows his progressive vision throughout the administration of the state, he can do really great things.

Spitzer isn't perfect, but neither is any candidate or elected official. His temper is well documented, and his zealous crusades against four-wheelers in the forest preserve, outdoor wood furnaces, and even those evil burn barrels seem to go too far. He has done a lot to protect our environment, yet we have to wonder if he's starting to micromanage. It's great to go after big polluters, but we need to keep things in context.

Still, I proudly support Spitzer a bit with a slight reservation on some issues. Eliot's heart is in the right place, and his intentions will lead him to be a great governor, if not President should politics take him to that place in 2012 or 2016. Eliot's pin get a proud place on my cowboy hat, and I look forward to both working for him and his candidates on the election trail, and doing whatever I can to support him in office.