Although the Westchester district attorney, Jeanine Pirro, has been touted as the likely GOP nominee to face Senator Clinton in her re-election bid next year, Mrs. Pirro will definitely be facing competition in the Republican primary. When the name Edward Cox appears, it is usually prefaced by the words “attorney” or “Nixon son-in-law.” After spending an hour interviewing the native New Yorker, I suggest we add the words, “a real contender.”

I first met Mr. Cox at a dinner for visiting Dutch conservatives at the Brasserie restaurant in Midtown. I’ve met him since at a few benefits for organizations opposed to abortion, but I did not connect his name to that of the man who married Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia until rumors surfaced that he might challenge Mrs. Clinton. He has not yet formally announced his candidacy, but he formed an exploratory committee and is canvassing the state. He has established a campaign office in Albany, but I managed to secure a sit-down with Mr. Cox in Manhattan.

I arrived early for the appointment at an office building on Lexington Avenue near Grand Central and signed in at the security desk. After hearing that I was there to see Mr. Cox, the guard broke into a grin and volunteered: “Oh, he’s a great guy. I’ll vote for him.” A great guy seems to be the general consensus of many asked for their opinion on the undeclared challenger for the Senate next year, but what I found refreshing is that Mr. Cox is also a gentleman. Throughout the interview, he made the case for his campaign without demeaning Mrs. Clinton personally. He spoke on issues, on his qualifications, and on the senator’s record, which is fair game for debate. A lifelong New Yorker and a genuine Mets fan, Mr. Cox was born in Suffolk County, attended Trinity School in Manhattan, and is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Why, I asked, was he running for the Senate?

Mr. Cox answered, “I’m running because Mrs. Clinton has been unable to address the problems of New York. New York has a lot of problems, and Mrs. Clinton hasn’t done anything to help resolve those problems. In her 2000 campaign she promised 200,000 new jobs for upstate New York, and that’s the most important problem in upstate New York: new jobs. She promised them, but she hasn’t been able to deliver, because she is not in power in Washington. New York is represented by not one, but two, liberal Democrats at a time when conservative Republicans are in the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Looking at the results of the ’04 presidential election and what New York needs, it’s clear that Mrs. Clinton has to be replaced with a good, credible Republican who can work with the majority in the House and the Senate and the White House to get the results that New York needs.”

He went on to say Mrs. Clinton’s policies and what she stands for are diametrically opposed to what New York State needs. New York is one of the highest-taxed states in the country, and because of that, jobs and our children are leaving for other states. Mrs. Clinton has voted against every one of the president’s tax cuts, he says, and New York benefits from tax cuts more than any other state. The senator is always proposing as solutions big government programs, which require an increase in taxes. We need, he said, tax reduction, deregulation, and fiscal responsibility to bring back the major industries that New York once had.

Mr. Cox was persuaded to enter this race by individuals, such as the economist Lawrence Kudlow, who know that Mr. Cox has a substantive record of more than 30 years’ service in the national and international arena. He has served three presidents and two governors. He has traveled extensively, meeting world leaders while accompanying Richard Nixon in his post-presidential years. He’s held leadership roles in education, job creation, and the environment.

He’s recently been on fact-finding tours of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan. He’s very familiar with the Middle East, and he says that it is crucial that we recognize that the Osama bin Ladens of the world are trying to break our will and drive us out of the Middle East to convince the world that that America is an unreliable ally.

Another senatorial candidate, former Yonkers Mayor, John Spencer, claims that he is the only opponent of abortion rights who is running, but Mr. Cox said he has been pro-life as far back as 1972, before Roe v. Wade.

I suspect the GOP bigwigs are pushing Mrs. Pirro because she’s a woman and Clinton seems unbeatable.

I predict that when they compare her experience with Ed Cox’s, they will rethink their support of her candidacy.