How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Eliot Spitzer, the two-term New York State attorney general who has gained a national reputation uncovering corrupt practices throughout the financial and insurance industries, said yesterday that he would run for governor in 2006, and pledged to fix what he called the "crisis" of New York's dysfunctional government.

Mr. Spitzer's announcement might have been a formality, since he long ago signaled his intention to run, but it served to firm up his position nearly two years in advance as the likely Democratic nominee, making it easier to raise money, line up endorsements and build momentum.

I don’t know why I love him but I do. I can’t help getting more than a little worked up about our Mr Spitzer. In a carnal way. More so than I ever could about Clinton. He’s not as cute or as chrasmatic or as likeable but there is something that man that sucks me in. I’ve actually met him, once, very briefly, and he’s not the kind of guy that can guess the colour of your knickers just by looking into your eyes. It’s not that. And there is more than a hint of sexual perversion about him.

The thing is, and this is a very important thing, for me, any road, is that he’s not afraid of anyone. Or that is what his public façade puts across. The endurance test for me will be when he is all powerful, and he will be, and governor, and he will be, and he doesn’t have the David and Goliath analogy. What’s he gonna do when he is a Goliath? Can he even exist outside of his self-enclosed stereotype or will he just look like an overweight bully?

And will I still love him?