Spin Cycle

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Gov. David Paterson saying he couldn’t condone civil-disobedience that halted traffic in protest of the Sean Bell shooting case.

2. Democrat Tracey Cline — after winning a primary to succeed disgraced ex-Raleigh DA Michael Nifong — saying: “This was not about the Duke lacrosse case...This was the healing after the lacrosse case...”

3. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, asked if he’d encourage Hillary Clinton to stay in the presidential race, responding: “I'm not going to get into it.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Former Democratic National Committee Chairman and delegate Joe Andrew abandoning the candidacy of Sen. Hillary Clinton and saying he expected to be attacked for it.

2. Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh downplaying expectations about his help for ally Clinton in Tuesday’s primary, saying: “My connection to the people of Indiana is personal, it's close. But it's hard to transfer that.”

3. Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island) saying after he was arrested for drunken driving: “Last night, I made an error in judgement.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota announcing a crackdown on reckless drivers.

2. LI County executives Steve Levy and Thomas Suozzi threatening to pull county police from highway patrol if the state does not fund them.

3. Seven LI Assemblymen proposing to suspend the state's gas tax from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self promotion by a power player?

1. Clinton-administration-flack-turned-ABC-moderator George Stephanopoulos remarking: “The questions (in Wednesday’s debate) were tough and fair and appropriate and relevant.”

2. Barack Obama remarking: “Last night I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people.”

3. Bill Clinton remarking: “I didn't hear her whining when he said she was untruthful in Iowa.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. New York State’s chief judge, Judith Kaye, suing for pay raises for her colleagues.

2. Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg’s $5,000 member item for the Long Beach Polar Bear Club.

3. Elton John, who's British, declaring in support of Hillary Clinton that he’s amazed “at the mysoginistic attitude” in the U.S.

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) announcing a lawsuit against the Bush administration, seeking documents and testimony related to dismissals of 9 U.S. Attorneys last year.

2. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) calling the suit a “partisan political stunt” and “a complete waste of time.”

3. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn asserting that a controversial practice of holding funds in reserve “continued against my instructions” and allocations to fictitious groups pre-dates her role.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Sen. Hillary Clinton calling her account of dodging sniper fire in Bosnia mistaken — after videotapes showed it to be totally fictitious.

2. Sen. John McCain shifting emphasis after saying of borrowers as well as bankers: "It is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly.”

3. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama’s pastor, saying: “The Italians for the most part looked down their garlic noses at the Galileans.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. New York City Buildings Commissioner Pat Lancaster proclaiming after the arrest of an employee who allegedly faked an inspection of the E. 51st St. crane that collapsed, killing 7: “I do not and will not tolerate any misconduct in my department.”

2. Gov. David Paterson saying if it turned out he did not pay back his campaign for a hotel room he used for a tryst with a woman friend “I will do it now.”

3. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver praising Paterson’s disclosure of infidelities, saying: “The governor said ‘let me get a budget done, I’m putting this out of the way.’”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1.Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologizing and resigning but saying “I and the remarkable people with whom I worked have accomplished a great deal.”

2. Former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro saying, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.”

3. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick calling news stories that he lied about a relationship with a staffer part of an “illegal lynch mob mentality.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Hillary Clinton declaring we need a president “tested and ready to be commander-in-chief on Day One.”

2. Barack Obama saying “The Clinton campaign has been true to its word in employing a kitchen sink strategy...three or four (attacks) a day.”

3. John McCain saying: “Stand up with me, my friends, stand up and fight for America...”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self promotion?

1. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver tapping the head of his personal-injury law firm to serve on a state judicial-screening panel.

2. After bowing out of a presidential run, Mayor Michael Bloomberg not squelching speculation on a vice-presidency.

3. Ralph Nader running again.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Chris Bodkin, Islip board member and former Republican, eying the Democratic nomination against veteran Sen. Caesar Trunzo, who as Islip GOP chair had tried to dump him from the town’s party ticket.

2. Jimmy Dahroug, an aide to Suffolk Executive Steve Levy, seeking the nomination and preparing for a primary, calling Bodkin a top-down, not grass-roots, choice.

3. Suffolk Legis. Ricardo Montano saying Bodkin, as recent Democrat, ought to “get at the end of the line.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Indiana) rushing to defend substance-suspected pitcher Roger Clemens during last week’s Congressional steroid hearings, saying in part: “He’s a titan in baseball... Now how does he get his reputation back?”

2. United Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten endorsing the Republican candidate in a special state Senate race — a couple of weeks before the GOP-controlled house fast-tracked a retirement bill for her teachers as approved in negotiations with the city.

3. Assemb. David Gantt (D-Rochester) saying as sheriff’s deputies escorted him and other protesters from a public meeting, “And you guys wonder...why a guy in Missouri goes and shoots some damn body.” (Gantt later apologized).

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Mitt Romney, claiming as he suspended his losing presidential campaign that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would make America more susceptible to terrorism — and so, “in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.”

2. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg saying for the first time that he would support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children.

3. Lt. Gov. David Paterson, prospective appointee as U.S. Senator if Clinton wins the presidency, saying of her big-state primary victories Tuesday: “Democrats in New York State love Hillary Clinton and Republicans respect her and that didn't surprise me.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Suffolk Legis. Brian Beedenbender (D-Centerreach) pushing legislation to require licensed contractors in the county to document their employees' legal working status.

2. Rev. Allan Ramirez condemning the measure, and arguments used to support it, as “race-baiting.”

3. Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh saying Sen. John McCain, despite winning GOP primaries, “is not the choice of conservatives as opposed to the Republican establishment.”

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Bill Clinton saying of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: “It's weird, you know, but if you love somebody, you would think they would be good. It's just harder (to withstand attacks).”

2. Sen. John McCain praising his currently lower-polling rival Republican, Rudy Giuliani, during a debate as “an American hero.”

3. Giuliani, who as NYC mayor fought unsuccessfully to keep a commuter tax, saying of Mitt Romney and McCain: “When Mitt and John were facing the choice of lower taxes, each chose higher taxes.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Mike Huckabee saying in South Carolina, “If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them where to put the pole.”

2. Sen. Barack Obama discussing Ronald Reagan as a role-model for change.

3. John Edwards declaring, “I will never use Ronald Reagan as an example of change.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. President George W. Bush predicting a peace treaty between Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in less than a year.

2. Gov. Eliot Spitzer describing a funding scheme for state universities as a bid to “unlock some of the value of the New York State Lottery.”

3. Suffolk Executive Steve Levy saying after his inaugurual ceremony, “This was a feel-good day to reflect on the successes of the last four years.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Brent Seaborn, adviser to Rudy Giuliani, calling their primary state strategy “bold” and “innovative.”

2. Mike Huckabee adviser Ed Rollins claiming Giuliani is “done” and “has no money” and was “hurt terribly by those police cruises with his girlfriends.”

3. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, after landing third in Iowa, saying of the Democratic candidates: “Together we have presented the case for change.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson calling top public officials’ raises “a long time coming” — and claiming his job is “the most difficult and stressful elected position in the State of New York.”

2. Sen. Hillary Clinton declaring herself “tested” and “ready to lead on Day One” — less than two weeks after Rudy Giuliani unveiled his slogan, “Tested, ready, now.”

3. Presidential candidate Bill Richardson saying in a campaign commercial that he’s “negotiated with some of our most difficult adversaries” — as a black-and-white still photo shows him meeting the late Saddam Hussein.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declaring that “unfair and deceptive acts and practices... have no place in our mortgage system.”

2. New York City Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Queens), a likely state Senate candidate, referring to himself Bob Dole-style: “There’s not a person in this room who can say that Jim Gennaro hasn’t been fair with them.”

3. Nassau Legis. Francis Becker (R-Lynbrook) saying, “We're severely underpaid and we're asking for a raise so we can send our kids to college.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), arguing for legislative pay raises, declaring: “Show me the money.”

2. Rudy Giuliani claiming that he ran an “open, transparent” government as New York City mayor.

3. Alberto Gonzales, fourced out as U.S. attorney general, collecting fat speaking fees.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Mitt Romney, presidential candidate, declaring: “Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to The Almighty, has a friend and ally in me.”

2. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, CIA director, saying interrogation tapes erlier destroyed by his agency could have exposed officials “and their families to retaliation from Al Qaeda and its sympathizers.”

3. Michael Bloomberg, NYC mayor, saying departing deputy Dan Doctoroff “has done more to change the face of this city than anyone since Robert Moses.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Sen. Hillary Clinton demanding Sen. Barack Obama pull an ad saying he’d provide health insurance to everyone, saying the claim is false.

2. Nassau Legis. David Mejias, the same month he was narrowly re-elected, helping raise funds for his possible state Senate run.

3. Close Mejias challenger Joseph Belesi in response calling Mejias “dishonest” and “a typical professional pol.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney blasting Mike Huckabee for having fought for tuition breaks for children of illegal immigrants while governor of Arkansas — after Huckabee pulls close in Iowa GOP primary polls.

2. Huckabee responding: “The fact that I am being attacked is a good sign.”

3. Sen. Barack Obama stating that he goofed off, drank and used drugs as a teenager.

Last week’s results: Jay Jacobs, 71.4 percent; Joseph Bruno, 28.6 percent.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) saying of Gov. Eliot Spitzer dumping his controversial drivers’ license plan: “Ultimately, it took an uprising from within his own party to force him to back down.”

2. Rookie U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-Utica), a foe of the plan, saying: “I give real credit to the governor for coming in and acknowledging that it wasn’t the right time for this.”

3. Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs saying of the issue: “It’s a stigma that will last all the way through the Thanksgiving turkey.”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Nassau Democratic legislators announcing their selection of Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) for presiding officer — before counts were finalized in a razor-close race that could have turned the post Republican.

2. Suffolk Legis. Vivian Viloria-Fisher trying and failing the day after elections to oust a fellow Democrat, William Lindsay, as the presiding officer.

3. State Republicans attempting to link Sen. Craig Johnson to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s controversial drivers’-license plan even though he voted for a GOP-sponsored bill months ago that would have pre-empted the change.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Term-limited Legis. Joseph Caracappa (R-Selden) contributing toward a Democratic dinner and allowing his photo to be used by a Democratic colleague in a re-election mailer.

2. New York City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) pushing for an inquiry into the Giuliani administration’s handling of the purchase of emergency radio equipment, six years after 9/11.

3. U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) a Brooklyn-born former Democrat, endorsing Rudy Giuliani, a Brooklyn-born former Democrat, for president.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Norman Podhoretz, foreign policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani, declaiming: “None of the alternatives to military action - negotiations, sanctions, provoking an internal insurrection - can possibly work” to keep Iran from the A-bomb.

2. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) declaiming: “If the Republican Party wants to win next year, they have to have a candidate that is willing to change the foreign policy and not just keep digging a deeper hole for ourselves.”

3. Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, a Democratic candidate for president, declaiming: “Iran is not a problem for us... Who the hell are we to have influence over there?”

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Rep. Pete Stark saying that Republicans won’t pay for children’s health insurance but have no problems funding a war in which soldiers “get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

2. Former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke endorsing Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to give illegal immigrants drivers' licenses.

3. Huntington school board president Richard McGrath objecting to a principal’s translation of school proceedings into Spanish and citing a parent’s letter that said the tranlation had no place “in a country where English is our official language.” The United States has no official language.

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. State and Nassau Republican chairman Joe Mondello saying Gov. Eliot Spitzer is “addicted to using immoral, unethical and possibly illegal means to destroy Senator (Joseph) Bruno.”

2. Suffolk Democratic Assemblywomen Ginny Fields and Patricia Eddington going on the national Lou Dobbs program on CNN to express dismay at Spitzer’s new drivers’ license policies.

3. Supermarket businessman John Catsimatidis informing the GOP he’s switching enrollment from Democrat to Republican, with an eye toward running for NYC mayor on the latter line in 2009.

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson asking a silent Iowa audience after 24 minutes of remarks, “Can I have a round of applause?”

2. U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks (D-Queens) saying when asked if he’d wish to be appointed to a vacant U.S. Senate Seat: “I’m happy... in the House of Representatives, but you never say never.”

3. State Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira), claiming “a constitutional obligation” to probe the Democratic administration over “Choppergate”.

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Democratic Supervisor Brian Foley of Brookhaven accepting campaign contributions from a development firm headed by a convicted felon looking to build locally.

2. Backers of GOP candidate Robert DiCarlo spinning this $4,750 in legal, disclosed contributions as “Foley’s dirty little secret.”

3. U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) looking to backtrack on both his guilty plea in a mens’ room sex sting and his resulting vow to resign.

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Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?

1. Rudy Giuliani boasting in London, “I'm probably one of the four or five best-known Americans in the world.”

2. Rev. Al Sharpton saying the rally he led in Jena, La., could mark the beginning of the 21st century's civil rights movement.

3. Sen. Dean Skelos declaring in a press conference that a new law shielding from liability those reporting possible terror activity “protects people who do the right thing.”

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UPDATE: The link to the poll below has been fixed.

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion?

1. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) blasting the U.S. role in Iraq on Syrian TV.

2. Republican presidential candidate Daniel Gilbert demanding Kucinich’s expulsion from Congress.

3. Vice President Dick Cheney declaring: “The United States and our coalition are getting things right in Iraq.’’

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