Robert Torricelli tries hard to come off as a victim.

The nod for Spin Doctor of the Week, or even the whole month, should go to Robert Torricelli, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, who withdrew from the 2002 race because “nobody was listening to me.”

Here is a politician who took thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks and was severely admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for illegal gifts from David Chang, who is serving time in prison. New York federal prosecutors recently issued a memo that backed up Chang’s claims that gifts he made to Torricelli were aimed at getting the politico’s help with overseas business deals.

It is difficult to understand why fellow senators did not oust The Torch, as he has become known. But the grace period may have been prompted by Torricelli’s fading ratings in various polls indicating he would not have been returned by the voters.

In announcing via national television his exit from the race, Torricelli was clearly self-reverential. He lauded all the things he thought he had done for his party, his constituents and society even though his transgressions are clear.

What was hardest for most to choke down was that the senator, who should feel lucky to escape jail-time, suggested there is something terribly wrong with the country. Why? Because people chose not to accept his apology for his lucrative wheeling-dealing and just move on?

Democrats in New Jersey and elsewhere are clearly relieved to be rid of Torricelli, even if they are faced with a tough fight to avoid losing a seat in the Senate. They agree that for all the new problems, there was big trouble if The Torch had tried to stay ignited and active.

Before Torricelli was finished with his self-serving departure comments, any viewer unaware of his many transgressions would have concluded that he truly was a victim of horrible injustice. Typical Torricelli, asserting that everyone else is out of step. “I’ve been a good public servant but nobody appreciates me,” he said.

No matter that it is clear by now that he got at least $150,000 in illegal funds in various ways and is fortunate not to be imprisoned.

Torricelli’s swan song on television is another case of how spin doctors can twist things and how individual responsibility is getting tougher to find among our public servants.