Posted on 04/09/2005 4:02:59 PM PDT by Libloather
In Attempt to Oust Clinton, a Strategist's Comeback Bid
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
Published: April 10, 2005
WASHINGTON, April 9 - Arthur J. Finkelstein, the political guru who helped engineer the defeat of one Democratic luminary, Mario M. Cuomo, has his sights set on another: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Mr. Finkelstein, a longtime adviser to Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, is setting up a political action committee to mount a campaign offensive against Mrs. Clinton in 2006, when she is up for re-election, according to Republicans familiar with his plans.
Mr. Finkelstein, who is known to be reclusive, would not comment for this article. But Republicans who know of his intentions say he is moving behind the scenes to line up donors to help the committee, called Stop Her Now, reach its goal of raising as much as $10 million to finance an independent campaign against her.
His plan includes financing an advertising assault against her similar to the one orchestrated by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that attacked Senator John Kerry's Vietnam service during the presidential election, according to the Republican officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Many details are sketchy, including whether Mr. Finkelstein has the start-up money and staff necessary to get the project off the ground. But Republicans close to Mr. Finkelstein said the negative feeling that Mrs. Clinton arouses among Republicans would make it relatively easy to raise money.
"There's a very good argument to be made that you could fund this committee through direct-mail appeals and through the Internet, just because she is so strongly disliked, particularly by activist Republicans," said one Republican official.
Stop Her Now is among the newest of the so-called 527 advocacy groups that have been springing up since last year's campaign season. These partisan groups, known as 527's because of the tax code that governs them, have helped Democrats and Republicans raise enormous sums of money and energize their political bases.
The groups began playing a prominent role last year after new campaign finance laws prohibited major donors, unions and corporations from giving unlimited amounts of money to parties. Those donors, in turn, began pumping money into the coffers of 527's instead.
The preparations against Mrs. Clinton come at a time when she appears to be riding high in New York, with her popularity rating soaring and state Republicans having a difficult time recruiting a top-tier candidate to run against her.
But Mrs. Clinton's advisers say they are prepared for a hard election season, predicting that Republicans from across the country will mobilize to stop her in New York. Indeed, Republicans are warning that Mrs. Clinton will be in a position to run for president in 2008 if she is not defeated in New York next year.
Mrs. Clinton's political advisers have seized on the news of Mr. Finkelstein's plans to rally their own troops. In a fund-raising e-mail message sent out this month, Mrs. Clinton's campaign cited the plans as evidence that the senator will become the prime target of "the right-wing attack machine."
Political strategists in both parties say that Stop Her Now represents a chance at political redemption for Mr. Finkelstein, who not only helped engineer Mr. Pataki's 1994 victory over Mr. Cuomo but also gained notoriety with his strategy of turning the word "liberal" into a liability for Democrats in national races he directed in the 1990's.
Mr. Finkelstein's personal life made headlines Saturday after he said he had married his longtime male partner in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts, a move that startled some of his associates, given his history with the Republican Party.
As a political consultant, his standing has been diminished after suffering a string of defeats during high-profile United States Senate races around the country, including New York, North Carolina and Florida.
One of his most significant losses came in 1998, with the defeat of Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato of New York, Mr. Finkelstein's chief political patron in the 1990's. During the 1996 election cycle, Mr. D'Amato, who was then chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had made Mr. Finkelstein the committee's chief strategist and pollster.
Recently, Mr. Finkelstein suffered another major blow when Mr. Pataki picked a new state party chairman, Stephen Minarik, who then, with the governor's support, terminated a contract the party had with Mr. Finkelstein and his associate, Kieran Mahoney.
Mr. Finkelstein and Mr. Mahoney, who have been among Mr. Pataki's closest advisers for more than a decade, were among the chief architects of his victory over Mr. Cuomo in 1994.
And Mr. Finkelstein drew criticism within national Republican circles when he said that Republican efforts to court evangelical Christians could hurt the party.
Mr. Finkelstein has apparently been planning the anti-Clinton committee for months now. But political strategists in both parties are questioning how successful this project will be, partly because he has been so secretive about where he is getting the start-up money he needs.
"I believe he is very serious about this," said one Republican official. "But the only way this becomes real is if he gets money behind it. He doesn't have the wherewithal financially to start this up on his own."
But Republicans familiar with the project said that Mr. Finkelstein is just weeks away from publicly launching the committee, having established a Web site and put a direct-mail operation in place.
Republican officials say Mr. Finkelstein is hoping to model his committee after the National Conservative Political Action Committee, a group he helped lead in the early 1980's in its campaign to, among other things, unseat liberal senators.
This is indeed excellent news and we hope it is true.
I guess they mean JimRob? Are we 'activists' by association?
Hitlery knows that a defeat in the 2006 senate race would end her hopes of winning the White House in 2008. I think if she begins to think that there is any chance of losing her senate seat, she will decide to not seek reelection. She will say something to the effect that "it would be impossible to properly represent the people of New York while campaigning for president."
this is exactly the repub. consultant that married his male
partner:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/politics/09finkelstein.html?ex=1113710400&en=06d59247448639a1&ei=5070
this sort of thing confirms, rather than opposes, the political agenda of HRC. i don't think we need this sort of individual leading our charge against hitlery..
There is an upside and a down-side to defeating HRC in 2006. Downside: There will be no reason for the Republcians to move to the right on immigration.
Upside: There isn't enough space here to write all the good reasons to defeat this witch.
nytimes managed to get this news out at the right time to hurt the Pubs...
But there isn't a StopHerNow.com website yet! Finkelstein get your ass in gear!
Stopping Hillary is an excellent idea. I'm a little nervous about empowering a guy like this who evidently opposes social conservatives and the religious right. It's fine if he sticks to New York politics, but we don't need any more big tent people at the national level. It's the surest way of damaging the party.
I agree with you. Dozens of prominent Democrats had "changes of heart" and declared themselves pro-abortion in order to run for the presidency. Why can't Condi do the opposite. I don't care if it's opportunistic as long as she really commits herself. But without that, I wouldn't touch her.
Mr. Finkelstein, let me know where to send the check.
Mr. Finkelstein's personal life made headlines Saturday after he said he had married his longtime male partner in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts, a move that startled some of his associates, given his history with the Republican Party.
Great name.
I'm somewhat farmiliar with Arthur Finkelstein, alot of people thought he was going to be a GOP kingmaker back in the 90's when it looked like he was going to be on a Karl Rove like rise.
His quote about evangicals not withstanding, he comes across as a self loathing guy (maybe because he is gay). We're talking about the kind of guy who would probably back and vote for Jesse Helms then vote for any kind of democrat who promoted gay marriage.
If you can figure him out, go ahead, I can't get why a guy, who is gay, and in the 90's was helping the hardest of the hard right get elected, doesn't help push his gay agenda, with the party that wants the abomination of homosexuality to be mainstream.
Is this his version of penance?
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