ALBANY - Eliot Spitzer and George Pataki share more than political ambition. Both also admire former New York Gov. and President Theodore Roosevelt.

In a speech last week, Spitzer identified Roosevelt, who was governor from 1899 to 1900 and president from 1901 to 1909, as one of two reformers he most admires.

The first he named was suffragette Susan B. Anthony. Then he mentioned Roosevelt, "who once likened himself to 'a bull in the china closet of unchecked corporatism.' "

As one might guess, Pataki, who has tried over his 11 years in office to revive the state's economy, doesn't use that quote when he waxes lyrical about Roosevelt. Instead Pataki, who named one of his sons Theodore, talks about Roosevelt's environmental record.

"A century ago, Theodore Roosevelt helped popularize the conservation movement in New York and across the nation," Pataki said in 1999 when he appointed a commission to honor TR's memory. "TR taught New Yorkers and the world that conserving and protecting our natural resources is essential to preserving and improving the quality of life we enjoy in this great country. He was an environmental visionary who inspired many. That's why his portrait hangs in my office in the Capitol."

But there are also some aspects of Pataki's record that TR would probably shake his head at. Most obviously, Roosevelt thought the public should be kept up to date on what he and the rest of state government was up to. He would sometimes have two press conferences a day. Pataki rarely answers reporters' questions.

And although Pataki has proposed reforms to state government, including revamping the campaign-finance system and tightening controls of state authorities, he hasn't fought for any of them with the Bull-Moose-like determination with which Roosevelt pursued changes.

It's that part of the Roosevelt legacy that Spitzer most admires. Since he was elected attorney general in 1998, he has become nationally known for going after fraud on Wall Street and in the insurance industry.

Now the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to run next year to succeed Pataki, who has decided not to seek a fourth term, Spitzer has taken some criticism for not focusing more on reform at the Capitol while he has been in office.

"Just as we freed the markets from cronyism and special interests, so we can free government from the grips of special interests and return it to its proper, historic role of creating opportunity for all New Yorkers," he said.

"To do this, we cannot be timid," he continued. "If we want to shake our government from its torpor, we need to be bold and unyielding when it comes to our goals."

Earlier this month Gov. George Pataki proposed to limit the time injured workers can collect workers'-compensation payments to 10 years and raise the maximum benefit from $400 a week to $500 a week. Pataki estimates it would cut workers'-compensation insurance rates by 15 percent. Business leaders say it would help get the cost of doing business in New York more in line with the rest of the country.

"I'm not going to give you an up-or-down answer" on Pataki's plan, he said last week, adding that he will have his own workers'-comp plan at some point.

That may be prudent, but it's hard to imagine that his hero Teddy Roosevelt wouldn't have broken a few pieces of china if he were asked a similar question.

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