This should be a pretty good day for Eliot Spitzer. A new poll shows him with a significant lead in the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller, perhaps more of a result of name recognition than forgiveness. He hasn’t yet made the ballot, though, and CBS reports that Spitzer thinks his party’s trying to sabotage his candidacy:

Eliot Spitzer has launched explosive allegations against his own party.

The former New York governor claims a group of Democrats is trying to prevent him from getting on the ballot for city comptroller. It’s a race against time to collect the signatures he needs to run, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday.

Spitzer must be a pretty scary guy because his entry into the Democratic primary for comptroller has mobilized union officials and Democratic Party insiders to mount a blatant campaign to intimidate people from helping him run.

“The thing that has emerged over the past couple of days is the coalitions that have been trying to force people not to work for me,” Spitzer said.

Spitzer is in a last-minute mad dash to qualify for the ballot. He has 100 well-paid people helping him collect the necessary 3,750 signatures. Friends were to hold a petition party Wednesday night. He told CBS 2’s Kramer the effort to keep him off the ballot represents all that’s bad in the New York political process — a process that has seen dozens of elected officials charged in corruption cases.

Well, not all that’s bad in New York politics. The local chapter of the National Organization for Women wants voters to remember Spitzer’s past exploitation of women as Client #9, for which Spitzer has shown insufficient remose, according to its chapter president:

Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women’s New York City chapter, said Wednesday that voters need to think about Spitzer’s business with the sex trade, which she said enslaves and abuses women. …

But Ossorio said the primary season is moving fast and there’s little opportunity to re-write history now.

“He’s had five years to do that. I haven’t seen that. I don’t see the good works. I don’t see where he’s actually owned up,” Ossorio said in front of City Hall.

One can see why Big Apple Democrats might be happy to see Spitzer miss his chance to turn the election into even more of a circus than it is with Anthony Weiner on the ballot. On the other hand, maybe they just want to nominate someone who bothers to vote.