Posted on 05/07/2005 11:48:45 AM PDT by smoothsailing
Novello Possible Foe For Clinton
May 2, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. All rights reserved.
To the short list of possible GOP contenders to take on U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., next fall, add the name of state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello. There have been a few whispers in certain top Republican circles that Novello, 60, is considering a statewide run post-Pataki administration, and perhaps might even challenge Clinton.
State Republican Party officials say she hasn't contacted them, however, and through a spokesperson at the Health Department the commissioner declined to comment on her political plans.
As the first Hispanic and first woman to serve as U.S. surgeon general (under the first President George Bush), Novello has a strong federal pedigree to take on a former first lady, although another possible GOP contender, Ed Cox, a Manhattan attorney, is the son-in-law of former President Richard M. Nixon.
Novello, a Puerto Rico native, could have a leg up with the all-important Hispanic vote.
Unlike her boss, Gov. George Pataki, who favors a woman's right to choose abortion (a stance that could hurt him in his political aspirations), Novello is anti-abortion. When Pataki appointed her health commissioner in 1999, Novello reportedly was considering a run for mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Highly placed Republicans said they are skeptical that Novello will end up running against Clinton. Some are still hoping Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro will step up to the plate, but she seems to be leaning toward a run for state attorney general.
Contributors: Capitol bureau reporters Elizabeth Benjamin and Erin Duggan.
This race is over. Let Hillary win with 70% against a Conservative Party no-name, get a swelled head, march straight to the Democratic nomination, and then lose with 44% of the vote to whichever Republican with a pulse is running against her.
Interestingly enough, the GOP did try running General Pedro del Valle, also born in Puerto Rico, for the Senate in the late 1940s.
Clemenza, I think you sell her out too short. She could have shot I think.
Anyone but the Hildebeast, that's for sure.
As pathetic as it may sound, our best bet would be Pataki. :-(
A anti abortion, hispanic Republican woman running against an a**hole.
BTW, how did Pedro do?
Yeah, I always suspected that Lazlo Toth, patriotic American, was on our side.
Her brother, Fr. Guido Sarducci, covered the recent Vatican events for Air America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Novello
LOL!
Our best bet is not Pataki, it is Rudi.
Frankly, if Rudi doesn't run to take her senate seat away from her, I greatly fear she will be president.
It is not the 2008 election where she needs to be stopped. It is the 2006 election.
I thought Guido was a Republican, why would he lower himself to Airhead America?
Del Valle was a very controversial figure, as he was associated with the Liberty Lobby (Willis Carto's group) and was accused of anti-semitism due to his association with said group, as well as some Buchanan-like statements that he made while campaigning.
Rudy would prefer the Governor's mansion. He has NO interest in checking his own ego against 99 other egotistical blowhards.
What about that DA from Westchester County, Perro?
If you look at the article, DA Facelift is interested in running for Attorney General, now that Spitzer is running for Governor. A shame, as I think Pirro would give Hillary a good run, provided she get's enough financing. She's a bit more of a heavyweight compared with Rick "Not Ready for Prime Time" Lazio.
Lazio is gorgeous, but that doesn't get you a Senate seat. Pirro is VERY sharp, and wouldn't make the mistakes Lazio made in his campaign.
Plus, I would hope she doesn't use that loser of a campaign manager (I forget his name, but he also was McCain's in 2000)
Thanx
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history/bionovello.htm
Antonia C. Novello (1990-1993)
Antonia Novello was born Antonia Coello in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on August 23, 1944. She received her B.S. degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1965 and her M.D. degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine at San Juan in 1970. She then completed her internship and residency in nephrology at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Novello remained at Michigan in 1973-1974 on a fellowship in the Department of Internal Medicine, and spent the following year on a fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University. From 1976 to 1978, she was in private practice in pediatrics in Springfield, Virginia.
In 1978, Novello joined the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, her first assignment being as a project officer at the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She held various positions at NIH, rising to the job of Deputy Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1986. She also served as Coordinator for AIDS Research for NICHD from September, 1987. In this role, she developed a particular interest in pediatric AIDS.
During her years at NIH, Novello earned an M.P.H. degree from the John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1982. From 1976, she also held a clinical appointment in pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital. Novello also made major contributions to the drafting and enactment of the Organ Transplantation Procurement Act of 1984 while assigned to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Antonia Novello was appointed Surgeon General by President Bush, beginning her tenure on March 9, 1990. She was the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the position.
During her tenure as Surgeon General, Novello focused her attention on the health of women, children and minorities, as well as on underage drinking, smoking, and AIDS. She played an important role in launching the Healthy Children Ready to Learn Initiative. She was actively involved in working with other organizations to promote immunization of children and childhood injury prevention efforts. She spoke out often and forcefully about illegal underage drinking, and called upon the Health and Human Services Inspector General to issue a series of eight reports on the subject. Novello also similarly worked to discourage illegal tobacco use by young people, and repeatedly criticized the tobacco industry for appealing to the youth market through the use of cartoon characters such as "Joe Camel." A workshop that she convened led to the emergence of a National Hispanic/Latino Health Initiative.
Novello remained in the post of Surgeon General through June 30, 1993. She then served as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Special Representative for Health and Nutrition from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, she became Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Novello became Commissioner of Health for the State of New York in 1999.
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