With just over a month on the job, Governor Eliot Spitzer was dealt his first real defeat last week when the State Assembly’s Democratic conference, led by Speaker Sheldon Silver, engineered the selection of Nassau Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli as the next State Comptroller.

And Spitzer was having such a great week. Just one day before DiNapoli’s appointment, Craig Johnson added his name to the State Senate’s Democratic caucus by defeating Republican Maureen O’Connell in the special election for the Nassau seat previously held by Republican Michael Balboni. Whether he meant to or not, Spitzer created the prime pickup opportunity for his own party by appointing Balboni to serve as his top homeland security official. If that was his strategy it worked, and Spitzer has now helped to position the Democrats within just two seats of taking control of the State Senate for the first time in decades.

Spitzer’s moment at the top of the mountain was short-lived. The selection of DiNapoli as comptroller, whether he is qualified or not, is a direct slap in the face of Spitzer and his reform agenda for Albany. Spitzer had set up a consortium of former comptroller’s to vet the candidates, and Silver had ostensibly agreed to make his selection from their selection. But then semantics set in. The comptroller committee selected just three candidates for the position, and not one of them was one of the five Assembly Members who applied for the job.

Spitzer urged Silver to play by the rules and pick from the three selected by the committee. Silver shot back, arguing that the committee was supposed to pick five potential candidates. The Spitzer camp said it was “up to five,” not five on the nose. The difference in opinion was all that Silver needed to pick from his own Assembly conference, which might have mutinied had he followed the somewhat confusing rules laid out by his committee.

The day prior to the selection, Spitzer sent a letter to every member of the State Legislature urging them to play by the rules and select from the three candidates those comptrollers deemed most qualified. After DiNapoli was selected, Spitzer made it clear to anyone who would listen that the legislature, particularly the Assembly Democrats, have denied the will of the people of the State and their search for Albany reform.

“This process has been revealing for the public,” said Spitzer. “It has made it clear to the public how people are acting, and why, and that is part of the process of reform. We will not get reform if people do not understand how people are acting, what is motivating them, and what they’re likely to do in the future.” Spitzer went further to announce that he would challenge lawmakers from both parties in upcoming elections if he so deemed them unworthy for elected office.

Spitzer was elected in large part to clean up Albany, famously telling anyone who would listen that on day one everything would change. Just weeks into his first term and the capital remains the cesspool it always was. Blogger BuffaloPundit summed up the frustration best by pointing out, in an open letter to the State Legislator, that just a handful of people elected Silver and his State Senate counterpart, Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, to their seats. The overwhelming majority of voters across the state elected Spitzer, and Silver, Bruno and their flock need to understand that or face the consequences.

“It’s time for you guys to stop being little lords of your little fiefdoms and start looking to and working for the benefit of your constituents, and the state at large where appropriate,” wrote BuffaloPundit in the letter. “People are pretty sick and tired of you—what was your approval rating late last year? In the 20s? Well, Spitzer is the one who got what can easily be called a mandate to lead us out of the madness in which Albany has been mired these past decades. I don’t think I’m out of order saying that the people of this state would go with Spitzer instead of Silver.  Ultimately, we’re the bosses of you.”

Spitzer’s claim that he will take on members of his own party, and that he will support candidates against incumbent Democrats, should have the City’s political establishment reeling. Every single Democratic Assembly Member in the five boroughs voted for DiNapoli. If Spitzer means what he says, that he will challenge incumbents opposed to his reform agenda, he could shake the entire system. Like he did with Johnson, Spitzer has the ability to carry candidates along to victory purely on the strength of his support. If he means it, we could see some real battles in the next few years. But in the spirit of politics, what someone says today might mean nothing tomorrow, and Spitzer’s anger at the legislature could be abated with future compromise. There is a budget on the horizon, you know.