New York: "After the press conference with Governor George Pataki, the mayor walked to the Lex (Pataki entered through a gate held open by one of his bodyguards; Bloomberg swiped a MetroCard) for a ride to City Hall."

New York Times: "Down below, Mr. Pataki pulled out a MetroCard and tried to swipe it through the turnstile. It didn't work. Instead, the governor encountered that all-too-familiar message, 'Please swipe again.' He obliged. This time it worked."

So did he? Or didn't he?

Pataki spokeswoman Mollie Fullington emails that Pataki "most certainly" swiped.

"I wonder who that mysterious very tall man was," she adds.

We thought the comparison with other states was particularly telling, a mark of how appearances that pass for normal in Albany would be scandalous elsewhere. (Suddenly, we sound like Fredric U. Dicker, for some reason.)

"This isn't just a matter of first ladies who, like Mrs. Bush, adopt the traditional role of homemaker. For example, the husband of Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Daniel Mulhern, recently divested himself of his own business consulting company, in part "out of concern for conflicts," his spokeswoman, Mary Dettloff, said.

And Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, refers to herself as the state's "lead volunteer," said her spokeswoman, Terri Carbaugh.

"She hasn't created a firm, and she's not consulting with people who are running legislation or anything like that," Ms. Carbaugh said.

But let's give Mollie Fullington her due:

A spokeswoman for Governor Pataki, Mollie Fullington, denied that there is any conflict of interest in Mrs. Pataki's work, calling the implication "absurd."

"Libby Pataki is a highly qualified and effective strategist and communicator. We're confident any number of companies would benefit from her expertise on a host of issues," Ms. Fullington said.