Posted on 10/14/2005 1:18:02 PM PDT by areafiftyone
ALBANY, N.Y. — As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton boasted of new fundraising success, Gov. George Pataki on Friday threw his political muscle behind Jeanine Pirro's troubled bid for the GOP nomination to challenge the former first lady's 2006 re-election. Almost immediately, one of Pirro's chief rivals for the Senate nomination, Manhattan lawyer Edward Cox, a son-in-law of the late President Richard Nixon, announced he was quitting the race. The Pataki endorsement of the Westchester County district attorney came as Pirro faced increasing questions over why her more than two-month-old Senate campaign hasn't generated more steam and money. The Republican governor's action came as a big blow to the more conservative Cox, who had repeatedly said Pataki told him this spring he would be the best candidate to challenge Clinton. But within an hour of the joint Pataki-Pirro news conference in New York City on Friday, Cox had bailed out. "The governor is the leader of the Republican Party," Cox said in a statement. "Out of respect for his position and his decision, I have decided to stop my campaign for the United States Senate." Pataki, who had refused to say at his news conference with Pirro if Cox should drop out of the race, had called the district attorney a "trailblazer and a fighter." "New York needs a full-time fighter, and not a part-time politician," said Pirro, stressing her campaign theme that Clinton wants to use the Senate race as a launching pad for a 2008 presidential bid. The timing of the endorsement appeared aimed at deflecting fallout from federal campaign finance reports due this week that were expected to show Pirro trailing far back of Clinton. The Clinton campaign reported Friday raising nearly $5.3 million in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. Aides said the campaign had more than $13.8 million on hand with the election still more than a year away. Details of Pirro's report weren't immediately available, but the district attorney said she was "confident of our fund-raising ability. ... The fund-raising potential is enormous." Clinton ended 1999, less than 11 months before her 2000 Senate victory, with just $4.7 million in the bank while her Republican opponent, then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, had $7.4 million on hand by that point. Giuliani eventually quit the Senate race in the face of prostate cancer and was replaced on the GOP ticket by then-Rep. Rick Lazio. "This is a tremendous showing of support for Senator Clinton," Patti Solis Doyle, head of the Friends of Hillary campaign committee, said Friday. Meanwhile, Cox reported raising almost $540,000 in the third-quarter of the year, but that included a $425,000 loan from himself. He had loaned his campaign $1 million since the beginning of the year. As of Sept. 30, Cox had just $38,357 on hand. Also seeking the GOP Senate nomination are former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer and tax attorney William Brenner from Sullivan County. Spencer, who raised less than $117,000 in the past three months, said Pataki's endorsement of Pirro came as no surprise and was "a desperation move to try to breathe some life into what everyone sees is a bad candidate and a bad campaign." Statewide polls show Clinton far ahead of the potential 2006 opposition while national polls have her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. News of the Pataki endorsement broke as the Pirro campaign suffered yet another glitch. The New York Times reported that two GOP county chairmen listed on Pirro's Web site as having endorsed her candidacy hadn't really done so. One of them, Tom Hayden of Allegany County, told the Times he hadn't even met Pirro. The other was Gordon Brown of Wyoming County. "A piece of friendly advice to Jeanine Pirro: If George Pataki is in fact endorsing you today, you might want to get this one in writing, just to be safe," said Blake Zeff, a spokesman for the state Democratic Committee. Pirro's campaign announcement trip across the state in early August was plagued by technical problems and questions about why her husband wasn't along with her. Albert Pirro is a millionaire lobbyist who served time in federal prison four years ago on tax fraud charges and who has fathered a child with another woman since his marriage to the district attorney. In endorsing Pirro, Pataki, who is eyeing a 2008 run for the White House, had backed a fellow supporter of abortion and gay rights, and gun control, noted national GOP strategist Nelson Warfield. "It's a plus for Pirro's troubled Senate campaign, but a minus for Pataki's tenuous presidential ambitions," said Warfield, a top aide on Bob Dole's unsuccessful presidential campaign. "Now, in addition to explaining his abortion (rights) record to conservatives in Iowa and New Hampshire, Pataki will have to explain why he endorsed the most liberal (Republican) candidate in the New York Senate race."
Originally published on October 14, 2005
All who want to defeat or at least weaken Hillary's presidential ambitions should support Pirro's campaign.
Even if you have to 'hold your nose' to vote for her.....a Pirro win is the end of Hillary!
Remember that Hillary in the WH could well mean the end of the internet as we know it and a weakening in the war on terror!
Go here to help Pirro beat the Beast.....
http://www.jeaninepirro.com/
I will have to hold my nose and vote for her.
Anybody but clinton!
"She'd be a great candidate if it weren't for her crooked mafioso lawyer of a husband."
Hellary's lawyer husband is kinda crooked too ay? So here we have 2 bee chee women in the race for NY Senator. Let it rip and let's see whats in the closet being hidden come to light. Too bad New York in general has drank the Clintoon Kool Aid. Whole lot of BARFING to occur with this race.
""Now, in addition to explaining his abortion (rights) record to conservatives in Iowa and New Hampshire, Pataki will have to explain why he endorsed the most liberal (Republican) candidate in the New York Senate race."
Pataki for Pres?????? Fa ged abod et!
The choice is clear now. A corrupt Hillary wannabe who's run a terribly inept campaign, or a honest, unapologetic conservative who is a decorated millitary vet and was elected mayor of New York's 4th largest city.
WATCH OUT JEANINE!
Yeah, she's such a brillant debater that she runs like the plague from public forums with her primary opponents and her supporters pretend like she's the only Republican running so we HAVE to back her by default.
She can't confront John Spencer but can take on Hilderbeast. Yup, makes sence to me.
Sigh. Upstate really, really, really needs to secede and form a new state.
I haven't heard the term "agita" for many years... both my grandmothers (long since passed) said I caused that condition full-time during my youth ;-)
I hope so. I hope Spencer takes the lead in this. He's a tough guy who can take on Hillary about the issues without getting personal! Getting personal doesn't cut it with voters.
But it seemed the perfect word at the moment.
The one where she says it's her party too and she thinks the moderates will save the world.
McCain has no problem with her support for gay marriage, abortion for minors without parental notification, etc etc etc.
Hopefully one rotten husband will not be the issue, because the King of the rotten husbands, convicted felon and rapist is married to the other candidate.
If this is the tactic that the dems take this fight is really going to get ugly. Let us count the skeletons in Mr. Clinton's closet. With two women going after something as important as this could really get ugly.
Same increasing question was whirling in my head. She was almost a regular on Greta Van Sustern's show but since she announced her candidacy she's disappeared from the radar screen except for one appearance with O'Reilly.
As for Pataki's endorsement what with his poll numbers tanking, I wonder if it will help or hinder her. I lost all respect for a man who didn't raise a finger to help Rick Lazio until the final weeks.
The New York Times reported that two GOP county chairmen listed on Pirro's Web site as having endorsed her candidacy hadn't really done so. One of them, Tom Hayden of Allegany County, told the Times he hadn't even met Pirro. The other was Gordon Brown of Wyoming County.
Lord help us!
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