Why Spitzer Is Perfect for Cable TV

CNN's choice of Eliot Spitzer to co-host an 8pm nightly show is a risky one given how many people are repulsed by him, but it makes sense, write Felix Gillette and Reid Pillifant at the New York Observer. CNN "built itself on substance but now finds itself chasing ratings. The disgraced former governor is the rare package potentially offering both," they write.

"Whatever else his qualifications, Mr. Spitzer has proven in recent times to have a knack for one of the more prized skills in cable news—namely, polarizing audiences. Call it Spitz-o-phrenia." Spitzer will have to walk a fine line—he can't be too controversial given his hopes of running for office again, but he's in dire need of an image shakeup. The arrangement "may be less a meeting of passion and more a potential arrangement of necessity between two institutions seeking a hasty resurrection."