Jim McGreevey could go down in history as one of the best-spinning politicians of our era. Just as a major contributor to his campaign pleaded guilty to conspiracy, obstructing a federal investigation and promoting interstate prostitution -- and just as a federal investigation into his own affairs took off -- he announced that he was a Gay American, thus guaranteeing that the media would focus on his sex life and not on any possible malfeasance in office.

Thanks to the media's fascination with sexual affairs, and thanks to the shock value of McGreeveys' outing himself, news of any possible investigations or wrong doing didn't even emerge until much later, and then only in local publications.

So my hunch is that while the voters may never elect him to office again, he will continue to play a very visible role in society. Investigations of governors are routine. Gay affairs are not. So McGreevey will forever be known as the first openly gay governor, and not as the politician who narrowly escaped being thrown out of office by a federal investigation. -KDP