What happens when good people do bad things? The next shoe drops in the sorry saga of New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. It still sucks.

As I said the other day, while venting what I guess would be fair to describe as heartsickness over the predicament that a pol I've long admired, Alan Hevesi, has gotten himself into: "Hevesi's problem now isn't so much his political enemies as his normal supporters."

Case in point: Today the New York Times, seeing no viable alternative, has taken the extraordinary step of endorsing the Republican candidate for state comptroller even though everything in his record and his campaign suggests that he will do the job abominably:

New York Times Editorial
October 27, 2006
For New York Comptroller

This has been an election year rife with sudden scandals and candidate meltdowns. In New York, we have watched in increasing dismay as State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's re-election campaign--and reputation--have unraveled in recent weeks. A damning report by the State Ethics Commission has found that he "engaged in acts that violated the public trust" by deploying taxpayer-funded cars and drivers for personal use.

That report, and Mr. Hevesi's unsatisfactory response, leave the voters with a dilemma. In general, Mr. Hevesi has done a good job running the comptroller's office over the past four years. His opponent has a far less impressive background and has appeared out of his depth in campaign appearances. Are the ethical issues enough to tip the scale?

In this case, yes. This is the second time Mr. Hevesi has committed the same violation of public trust. When he was comptroller in New York City, a news report revealed that he had repeatedly used city cars and drivers to transport his ailing wife. He reimbursed the city $6,439. This year, the same issue was raised by his opponent, Christopher Callaghan. Mr. Hevesi admitted he had once again been using government cars to chauffeur his wife, apologized repeatedly and agreed to repay the state almost $83,000. In both cases, Mr. Hevesi volunteered to reimburse the taxpayers only after the problem was made public.

As the criticism has grown louder in recent weeks, Mr. Hevesi has increasingly walled himself off from the press and the public. Only after intense pressure did he finally agree to Wednesday night's debate, when he apologized but defiantly portrayed his actions as a concerned husband's protection of a fragile spouse. He insistently ignores the fact that the issue is not whether Mrs. Hevesi should be driven around, but who should be paying the bill.

If the Republican Party had known Mr. Hevesi's candidacy was going to implode, it would undoubtedly have looked harder for a nominee to challenge him. As it was, Mr. Callaghan, the former Saratoga County treasurer, appeared to have been the only person to raise his hand. Until a few weeks ago, he had been such a phantom candidate that even some of his fellow Republicans were scrambling to find out who he was.

As treasurer, Mr. Callaghan ran a tiny office of about a dozen people where he was, in effect, Saratoga County's accountant. He is known as a penny pincher when it comes to public funds, which is good. He is also a conservative on nonfiscal matters, whose political views would put him at odds with many New Yorkers. In interviews and in this week's debate, he has been extremely unimpressive, hardly the man whom voters would normally want to hire as the state's chief fiscal officer and sole trustee of New York's $140 billion pension fund.

But one of the main jobs of the comptroller is to make sure people who handle taxpayers' money understand the very clear line between their personal expenditures and the public treasury. There is no way Mr. Hevesi can fulfill that vital role anymore.

Rather than choose between Mr. Hevesi and Mr. Callaghan, some political and civic leaders have called for Mr. Hevesi to resign, hoping that the political powers can then pick another candidate. While he could not be taken off the ballot, the public could presumably be told whom they would be getting if the departed comptroller won the election. That strategy smacks very much of the Albany political culture, in which almost anything can be papered over by a few powerful officials sitting down privately to make a deal. The public should choose between the candidates offered, and that means they should choose Mr. Callaghan.

If elected, we hope he avoids the political hacks and has-beens waving their resumes and chooses the all-important counsel, deputies and advisers for the pension funds from the rolls of the best and most thoughtful people available in New York State. We make this endorsement with some trepidation, but with a conviction that it is vital that voters take a stand against the curdled political culture in Albany. There have to be consequences for bad behavior--for political parties as well as individual politicians. We support Christopher Callaghan for New York comptroller.
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If I may quote myself again: Man, this sucks.