Spitzer stands by "steamroller" boast

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was unabashed on Wednesday about declaring himself a "steamroller" and the most accomplished governor in the history of the state after three weeks on the job.

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else," the Democratic governor told Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco in a private conversation last week, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

"I've done more in three weeks than any governor has done in the history of the state," Spitzer also said, the Post reported.

Asked at a news conference if the comments were inappropriately boastful, Spitzer replied tersely, "No. Next question."

Former New York governors include DeWitt Clinton, who built the Erie Canal in the 1820s, connecting New York to the interior of the United States and cementing New York City's position as a powerhouse of international trade.

Four former governors went on to become president including Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose social welfare programs for the state provided a model for the New Deal when he later entered the White House.

"Most of those things take longer. At that rate we should be in heaven in four weeks, but he (Spitzer) might not get in for lack of modesty," said former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who added that he did not consider the matter serious and did not expect it to hurt Spitzer politically.

"Some people will like it as a show of self-confidence. Others will not like it as a show of boastfulness. I take it as a sign of self-confidence," Cuomo told Reuters.

Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70 percent of the vote in November following a stint as state attorney general noted for high-profile investigations into Wall Street.

A spokeswoman for Spitzer declined to comment when asked to confirm the conversation.

Tedisco told reporters in the state capital of Albany that "we had a bit of steamy conversation" but he would not reveal details.

"He's a guy who likes to play it tough sometimes, and I don't mind that," Tedisco said. "And I've heard the F-word before."

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Flood Morrow in Albany)