|
Back
|
Clinton positioned comfortably in the middle
By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer |
September 16, 2006, 12:10 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, having easily beaten back an anti-Iraq war challenger from the liberal wing of her party in Tuesday's Democratic primary, now faces attack from the Republican right to go with continued – but less vocal – sniping from the left.
In other words, Clinton is exactly where she would like to be – smack dab in the political middle – as she heads into the November election with a possible run for the White House waiting in the wings.
The political middle was, of course, the key to her husband's electoral success as he stressed cutting deficits, crime and welfare dependency.
And, Republicans are already playing a political hand in trying to deal with the senator that has not resonated with New York voters in the past – that a top Democrat in their midst may have presidential ambitions.
"I'm John Spencer and I approved this message because I'm running for U.S. Senate, not president," the conservative former Yonkers mayor said in a new ad he unveiled Tuesday as Clinton was scoring her landslide victory over Jonathan Tasini and Spencer was winning the GOP primary against Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland, a Reagan-era Pentagon official who had never before run for office.
"New Yorkers deserve a senator who is focused on improving the lives of New Yorkers and not just interested in running for president," said state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik in a statement congratulating Spencer on his primary victory.
The reality is few New Yorkers may see the Spencer ad. His campaign is pretty much broke.
New Yorkers don't seem to mind when their leaders are talked about as possible presidential contenders. Democrat Mario Cuomo easily won re-election in 1986 and 1990 even as national polls showed him leading the field among potential presidential contenders.
"People perceive it as a positive thing, as a good thing for New York, so I think it's a failed strategy," said Brendan Quinn, a former executive director for the state GOP who earlier this year was briefly an adviser to the Spencer campaign.
Republicans learned during the Cuomo era, however, that such criticism does help raise money, especially from donors outside New York.
"Does it help? It doesn't hurt," Minarik said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Money is something the party in New York badly needs at the moment with polls showing Clinton easily winning re-election and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer well ahead of a cash-strapped Republican John Faso in the race for governor.
In Spencer, Clinton has a GOP opponent who is well to her right. He is opposed to abortion and gay rights and is a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq.
National Republicans are well aware of the danger of allowing Clinton to take the middle ground.
A statement issued immediately after the primary by Sen. Elizabeth Dole – whose husband was beaten by Bill Clinton in the 1996 presidential election – said it was Spencer's job to keep the former first lady from capturing the middle.
"Mayor Spencer will hold Senator Clinton accountable as the senator attempts to redefine herself as a moderate while her record and past rhetoric tell a very different story," said Dole, head of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
Unfortunately for Spencer, the national committee is providing only a few words of encouragement and sending him no money.
Meanwhile, the sniping from the left continued past the primary for Clinton.
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party's Senate candidate, picked up where Tasini left off, saying Clinton had "disrespected her Democratic base by refusing to debate Tasini. The question now is whether Clinton will disrespect all of her New York constituents by refusing to participate in debates in the general election."
Despite such barbs, the director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said Clinton's big primary win over Tasini, 83 percent to 17 percent, coupled with Spencer's conservative attacks "will make it a little harder for the really hard left to go after her."
"She'll look sweet and nice, right there in the middle," predicted Maurice Carroll.
___
Marc Humbert has covered New York state politics for The Associated Press for more than 25 years. He can be reached via e-mail at: mhumbert@ap.org.
|
| |
 *Website by David Doonan, Labor Donated to Hawkins for Senate Campaign* |
|
|
