Georgette Mosbacher is passionate, strong-minded, mushy about dogs, capable, close to her family, opinionated, big on eye shadow, articulate, and, oh yes, gorgeous. She is, in other words, the kind of woman that other women typically love to hate. Thank heavens she’s so open, and so much fun.

Ms. Mosbacher, head of the cosmetics company Borghese and a big-time Republican fund-raiser, states her mind. Whether it is her view of the current administration (which she says has been crippled by “arrogance and vindictiveness”) or beauty salons (“I hate the environment of those places”) or her ex-husband (whom she calls “the love of my life”), Ms. Mosbacher is not one to mince words.

She is also not one to let the grass grow under her feet. A week ago Ms. Mosbacher attended a breakfast at “21” during which an ABC News reporter and author, Martha Raddatz, spoke about the emotional and financial hardship being felt by the families of our GIs killed in Iraq. Returning home, she immediately plunged into researching how to funnel money to the young wives and children left behind, and planning a fund-raiser that might best draw in muchneeded support.

This is no empty gesture. In January, she helped organize a huge celebration for a new rehabilitation center and two Fisher House locations for Army families visiting wounded GIs in San Antonio. She asked for help from her friends Big & Rich, a country music group, and from Rosie O’Donnell, and in the process helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the new state-of-the-art rehab center.

Ms. Mosbacher shares with many Republicans equal parts conviction that our incursion into Iraq may have been necessary and justifiable, and outrage that the administration has made such a hash of it. She is alternately frustrated with and defensive of the president.

“I truly believe that history will judge this president differently,” she said. “He became president during a recession, and then was hit by the worst terrorism attack ever on U.S. soil. And yet, here we are seven years later, with no inflation, virtually no unemployment, low interest rates. It’s breathtaking.

“This president was elected governor of Texas twice, and president of the U.S. twice. You don’t do that if you’re an absolute fool. The public relations effort of this administration has been a disaster. And, he has surrounded himself with people who have not served him well. This latest fiasco with Gonzales is a case in point,” she said.

Ms. Mosbacher is working as one of the finance chairmen on Senator McCain’s presidential campaign, having served in the same capacity the last time round. “McCain is the front-runner,” she said. “This election will be like no other. With the primaries all moving up to February, it doesn’t bode well for anyone who is not the frontrunner. Money will be more important than ever.”

Still, she supported Rudolph Giuliani in his successful run for mayor of New York, and says, “I like Giuliani. I was an early supporter. He’s formidable, and not to be underestimated. Both McCain and Giuliani stack up well against Hillary. They may have to deal with their support of the war, but so will she. She can’t get away from it.”

Ms. Mosbacher is a fan of Mayor Bloomberg as well. “He’s an outstanding human being,” she said. “I wish he could go further, but an independent just can’t make it in this country.”

Will Senator Clinton definitely be the Democratic candidate? “For sure,” Ms. Mosbacher said. “It was over before it got started. Her people have a vested interest in making it look like a horse race, but it’s not even close.”

Other than her political activities, Ms. Mosbacher is busy building Borghese, the old-line cosmetics company that she and her partners bought seven years ago. “Borghese had suffered from an absentee owner,” she said. “There had been too much management turmoil and there was no focus and no vision. Inventory was out of control, the company was making too many products, and there were no financial controls. We had to stabilize it, bring in new management, refocus.

“The brand was solid, it had good name recognition, quality products. We did the first cobranding with Costco, Kirkland by Borghese. Costco is known for its quality, whether it’s diamonds or cosmetics. The business model is different from other big box stores.

“We’re expanding aggressively in China, and monetizing the brand. We’ve brought out new products like nail polish and cosmetic brushes. We’re profitable now, and have grown by 100%,” she said.

Ms. Mosbacher bristles when asked why she continues to work. She will be 60 this year, and despite attaining many of her personal and financial goals, she dismisses the question. “I wonder if you’d ask a man that,” she said. “If all the men on Wall Street worked only until they met their financial goals, they’d all be gone.

“It’s about responsibility, to my partners and to my employees. It also goes to self-esteem, being active, being challenged. I’ve worked all my life — it’s a frame of reference. I grew up on the edge of poverty, worked my way through school. This isn’t a hobby,” she said.

Does Ms. Mosbacher enjoy what she does? “Every day is an adventure,” she said. “I love life — I do. Socially, financially, I’m way beyond where I should be. I don’t ever feel like I miss anything, I do what I like to do. My favorite thing is reading. I’d rather spend the evening at home reading a good book than attending the party of the year.”

Ms. Mosbacher works hard on many fronts — including keeping up her signature glamorous red hair. “Appearance is important, despite what the feminists told us,” she said. “I do my nails myself, and I do my own hair, even the highlights. I can’t stand hair salons. I’ve always been self-sufficient. I can wire a TV, fix things, change a tire.

“I don’t like to go to restaurants, I like to eat at home. But I don’t cook. I used to cook as the oldest of four children of a single mother. I promised myself that if I didn’t have to, someday I’d never cook again.

“When I’m stressed, though, I do housework. It’s a joke at the office. If they see me cleaning out the fridge, they know things are bad,” she said.

Ms. Mosbacher says she has “eclectic tastes. ” She recently went to hear “The Magic Flute” at the Metropolitan Opera, saw “Edward Scissorhands” at BAM, is a fan of “The Unit” on TV, goes to the Country Music Awards each year, and just went to Carnegie Hall to hear bluegrass. She attended a Middle East forum put on by Forbes magazine in Doha, Qatar, last month, appears regularly on Lou Dobbs’s political panel, and is involved in the Fallen Heroes Fund and the USO.

What she doesn’t have time for is men. Thrice divorced, and still recovering from the breakup of her marriage to Robert Mosbacher, best friend of the first President Bush, she is not dating, and says she does not intend to. “I will never marry again,” she said. “I had 15 incredible years. He was the most influential person in my life. I am the woman I am today because of him.”

And that is saying quite a bit.

Peek10021@aol.com