Gov. Eliot Spitzer won his election last Nov. 7 and took office on Jan. 1, but he's never stopped campaigning.

He's like the Energizer Governor.  Only these days he's not fighting to win his own job.  He's campaigning to keep his reform agenda alive.  That, in turn, evidently means a series of separate but linked campaigns, like the one against Assembly Democrats, who defied him on their selection of State Comptroller, and Senate Republicans, whose increasingly thinning majority is netting more and more attention from Spitzer and his allies.

The change from former Gov. George Pataki, a sometimes amiable presence who was largely M.I.A. when it came to fighting political battles, could not be more stark.  Spitzer, the guy who jogs at dawn, even on Inauguration Day, has proven not only popular, but willing to spend that capital on what he believes.  In Albany, the political pros, especially Assembly Democrats, were shocked earlier this month when Spitzer named names, speaking ill of incumbent lawmakers of the same party while in their districts.

That, as much as anything, was a breakthrough moment.  It was a dramatic one for the governor, a threatening one to some of his fellow democrats, but mostly a healthy one in a democracy.  After all, there has been an increasing anonymity at work for lawmakers for a long while, a go-long attitude that the governor is breaking.  It's overdue, and it's a key part of any reform agenda.

The only way to change the culture in Albany –or anywhere else, for that matter –is to shed light on the problems.  It's not exactly a coincidence that the state Legislature became so entrenched during years when newspapers and TV newscasts concentrated more and more on tabloid tales instead of the people's business in Albany.  Newspapers have closed down their statehouse bureaus.  When nobody's watching, it's all that much easier to let lobbyist have their way.  Spitzer, understanding all of this, went directly to local media outlets to report his views about specific Assembly members.

The interesting challenge for the governor will be in balancing his ongoing campaigns with the real, unending work that all chief executives of the state must do, especially passing budgets.  Spitzer will need votes from Assembly Democrats for the rest of his term, and watching him get them, even as he continues to "out" so many of them on their votes for  comptroller or other perceived wrongs,  will make for engaging entertainment.  Apparently he's counting on his personal popularity to last or even expand, but that too is a proposition with some risks.  Or maybe he thinks that no matter what, he'll remain more loved then the Legislature at large.  That might not be a bad bet.

The refreshing thing, though, is that Spitzer, by taking aim at some of those in his own  party, has put the reform back in the movement for "reform," which in the past year has become almost a meaningless catch phrase in city and state politics.  Spitzer's looking to the state Senators, especially Democrats, to be natural allies, since as long time minority party in that body they know a thing or two about living with the dangers of a majority that's in need of change.

In this city, we had a fair warning that the subject of the states Senate's Republican majority would become a hot topic.  For years we've heard from Manhattan's Democratic state Senators, especially the West Side's Eric Schneiderman and East Sider Liz Krueger, about why it's important to elect more member of from his own party to the Senate.  They were ahead of their time in making that case, but now a new governor shares their enthusiasm for the task.  According to a New York Times report on Feb. 18, Spitzer is corralling would-be Senate candidates for the 2008 campaigns and maybe even urging some Republicans to switch parties long before that.  He's already pulled one high-profile Republican into his administration; it might happen again.

The landscape is shifting.  The governor is battling more than one foe at a time.  Entrenched interests are feeling threatened.  This is potentially a time of history-making change, but the governor, even one who zips around at dawn and talks a good game, will not be able to change his state without a great deal of help.

We have a governor who's involved.  The only thing we need now is an engaged populace.