Spitzer considers challenge to Gillibrand

Just when national Democrats thought they had cleared the primary field for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) comes this shocker:

Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been privately talking with friends about a possible comeback, and is considering a run for statewide office next year, several sources told The Post.

Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand, sources said.

Were Spitzer to actually make the plunge, New York could see an incredibly bruising primary. Spitzer has little to lose, politically. And he might actually have higher name ID than Gillibrand. Still, Republicans shouldn't start salivating yet. Other sources tell The Post that Spitzer realizes the long odds against him may sit it out after all:

But a source close to him insisted, "It's not true," and two other close associates also insisted he was not interested in running for office again and was looking at a range of other options. Two sources said Spitzer had thought about a gamut of different electoral choices in his months of political exile. But one ally insisted he's realized he can't do anything, at least not next year, saying, "There are people around him who want to see him [in office], and he sees himself there, too. He loves to be in the limelight. But he knows it can't happen."

It'd be fun, though.