SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton carefully sidestepped questions Monday about the sex scandal engulfing Eliot Spitzer, her home state governor and political ally.
``I don't have any comment on that. Obviously I am sending my best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family,'' Clinton said, opening her first campaign swing through Pennsylvania, which holds its presidential primary April 22.
Spitzer apologized Monday after he was accused of paying for sex with a high-priced call girl. Authorities say he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging a tryst with the woman at a Washington hotel room.
It was a blow to Clinton, who recently had intensified her criticism of rival Barack Obama's relationship with Antoin ``Tony'' Rezko, a political patron on trial in federal court in Obama's hometown of Chicago for alleged fraud and corruption.
While not personally close, Clinton and Spitzer have been friendly colleagues since the former first lady initially ran for the Senate in New York in 2000. Her aides said Clinton deeply respected Spitzer's work during his two terms as state attorney general, where he became a national crusader against corporate corruption and Wall Street investment excesses.
But indirectly, Spitzer also caused Clinton a significant political headache late last year when he proposed a plan to provide illegal immigrants with drivers' licenses.
During a nationally televised debate, Clinton tripped over a question about whether she supported the proposal, prompting criticism that she was being evasive. She later said she opposed the plan but hadn't wanted to damage Spitzer by saying so. Spitzer later killed the idea.
Spitzer was slow to endorse Clinton's White House bid and has not been among her more forceful surrogates. But he is one of her all-important superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders who could play a decisive role in determining who becomes the presidential nominee.
Clinton declined to say whether she believed Spitzer could survive the scandal, which drew immediate calls for him to resign.
``Let's wait and see what comes out of the next few days,'' she said. ``Right now I don't have any comment. I think it's appropriate to wish his family well and see how things develop.''
No stranger to the public humiliation of sex scandals, the former first lady stood by her husband in 1998 through the investigation of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment.
Coincidentally, a handful of Clinton's high-profile supporters have been forced to apologize for sexual misbehavior.
Early in 2007, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom publicly apologized for having a relationship with the wife of a top political aide. He blamed alcohol dependence for his actions and checked into rehab.
Shortly after endorsing Clinton in May 2007, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a rising Hispanic star in the Democratic Party, announced he was divorcing his wife after carrying on monthslong affair with a local television news anchor.
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