Clinton Win May Not Be A Done Deal
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The latest claim from Senator Clinton’s camp is that her campaign chest has swelled to $15.8 million. So, what is she doing with it?
There hasn’t been much evidence that it’s being spent on the Senate race, and her opponent’s spokesman, Rob Ryan, says the real purpose of the money is to fund her 2008 presidential race. Amazingly, I just received an e-mail from a member of the Conservative Party’s executive committee, Jim Kelly, who states with all seriousness that Republican John Spencer can win the Senate race.
The idea of Mrs. Clinton losing is so unlikely that at first glance it’s easy to dismiss the notion until one considers the one factor that makes this scenario plausible — the turnout.
Mr. Kelly cites statistics that show Mrs. Clinton’s defeat is conceivable given the history of low turnout on statewide Election Day.”Only 5 1/2 million of the 19 million people vote on a Statewide election day! These numbers clearly are in our favor,” he writes. Then, he adds the big “ifs.”
IF every one of the 800,000 to 1 million law-abiding firearms owners — believers in the Second Amendment — come out to vote, “We will win,” Mr. Kelly says. Mr. Spencer is a member of the NRA and is a favorite son of several gun, reel, and hunting clubs throughout the state. The NRA president says Mrs. Clinton poses one of the largest threats to our Second Amendment rights, according to Mr. Kelly.
IF 2 million pro-lifers come out and vote on Election Day, Mr. Spencer wins, Mr. Kelly says. Mr. Spencer has always been pro-life and promotes adoption and counseling for women.
Mr. Clinton voted against the ban on partial-birth abortions even though she straddled the fence in the 2000 Lazio debate, saying, “Of course, it’s a horrible procedure” while expressing concern for the health of the mother.
IF millions of supporters of America’s military vote, Mr. Spencer will win, Mr. Kelly insists. Mr. Spencer is a decorated Vietnam veteran. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kelly says, Mr. Spencer supports the USA Patriot Act and the NSA wiretaps that prevented the Brooklyn Bridge from being bombed, 10 airliners from coming down in the Atlantic, and prevented the Lackawanna Six from entering Erie County.
There were several other detailed “ifs” (about jobs, taxes, courts, gay marriage, eminent domain, etc.) in Mr. Kelly’s e-mail, accounting for several million votes that could go Mr. Spencer’s way. With debates against Mrs. Clinton upcoming on the 20th and the 22nd, the general public will have a chance to weigh the differences between the candidates. If Mr. Spencer does happen to knock Mrs. Clinton offstride in her race to the White House, it will be the biggest upset since Truman/Dewey in 1948.
With $15 million in the bank, I rather doubt that the Clinton machine is expecting much of a battle with the former mayor of Yonkers, especially since she seems to have the mainstream press in her corner.That may no longer be such a plus, however, considering the nonsense that just keeps cropping up in the Fourth Estate.
“Democrat Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes” is a frivolous contemplation by a Washington Post staffer, Shailagh Murray, on one reason that the Democrats may take over Congress in November. The gist: The Democrats are better-looking. She writes: “Attractive politicians have an edge over not-so-attractive ones. The phenomenon is resonating especially this year. By a combination of luck and design, Democrats seem to be fielding an uncommonly high number of uncommonly good-looking candidates.”
What an insult to women voters even if it’s true that looks impress them, but Ms. Murray will get away with it because she writes for the Washington Post. When I pointed out in 1992 that silly women voted for President Clinton just for that reason, an editor at the Detroit Free Press withdrew an offer I’d received to write for that liberal press icon. I’ll bet that Ms. Murray didn’t compare John Murtha to his very attractive GOP opponent, Diana Irey.
Whatever candidates Ms. Murray did look over, she obviously missed Republican candidate Italo Zanzi, who’s running for Congress in Suffolk County. Heads turned when he walked into the Grand Hyatt a few weeks back. He is tall, young, single, and sports and movie star handsome. See for yourself at zanzi2006.com (he’s even betterlooking in person).
Come November in the Senate race, if issues are honestly and civilly debated and Mr. Spencer doesn’t get too aggressive toward Mrs. Clinton, he may avoid the Lazio curse and actually have a shot. If the Democrats believe looks mean more than substance, then they’ll go down in flames in Suffolk County because Mr. Zanzi has both.
But if the voters ever ask themselves who Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden want in charge of Congress, I bet they’ll keep the GOP in place, even if they may hold their noses while voting.
acolon@nysun.com