Clinton Campaign Ready for More Than 2006

Townhall.com ^ | 27 February 2006 | MARC HUMBERT

[Aussie Dasher]

Six years after battling her way to a Senate seat from her newly adopted state by campaigning night and day, Hillary Rodham Clinton is coasting toward re-election _ and piling up money that could go toward a run for the White House in 2008.

The New York Democrat has had no well-known GOP opponent in her bid for re-election since prosecutor Jeanine Pirro dropped out in frustration in December. The Republican expected to step in, former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, is a no-name in most of the state, and polls show Clinton with a commanding lead against all potential challengers.

At the end of 2005, the former first lady had $17 million in her campaign account and was working hard to expand her national base of contributors. Spencer had just $243,000.

"She's raising money she won't even need" for her state race, said former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, a New York Republican powerbroker.

Leftover money could be used for a presidential campaign in 2008 if she runs.

The difference between Clinton's 2000 campaign and her re-election bid is striking.

Six years ago, she crisscrossed the state in a remarkably energetic effort to convince voters in the vast Republican areas outside New York City that she would make a better senator than New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Giuliani spent $17 million before leaving the race because of prostate cancer, and his successor, Rick Lazio, a congressman from Long Island, pumped an additional $40 million into the campaign. Ultimately, Clinton spent $41 million and won easily.

Today, she visits small pharmacies and talks about the problems with the Medicare drug plan. She lingers for autographs and photos. There is no real hurry.

For now at least, the Clinton campaign is largely ignoring Spencer. Earlier this month, when the Republican charged that Clinton's criticism of President Bush's conduct of the Iraq war "aids and abets our enemies," her advisers had no comment.

A year ago, New York's state GOP chairman sent out national fundraising letters warning that the 2006 Senate race was "not merely a race for New York. It's a race for America." To counter that, Clinton sent out letters warning that her 2006 opponents "will raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars against me."

But that has not happened. Pirro and other Republican hopefuls and activists have struggled to raise money.

"New York is not on our radar screen," said William Black, an operative with the anti-Clinton "Stop Her Now" effort, which was launched a year ago and had raised less than $25,000 as of the end of 2005. "It's really not much of a race."

President Nixon's son-in-law Edward Cox, a New York lawyer who briefly pursued the GOP Senate nomination, said contributors had a "very knee-jerk" reaction to Clinton in 2000, but their attitude this time is "What have you got to offer against her?"

"The dislike is still there, but the people out there were disappointed once," Cox explained.

D'Amato offered another theory: "A great deal of the hostility toward her has abated."

In Spencer, vocally anti-abortion and a staunch supporter of the president, Clinton has the perfect foil if she is looking toward the White House in 2008, according to one Democratic strategist.

"Because he's so conservative, it allows her to stay in the middle," said Hank Sheinkopf, who worked on President Clinton's 1996 campaign. "Effectively, he shows up and she becomes a centrist. She couldn't have asked for someone better."

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson would not discuss 2006 campaign strategy, the possible benefits from not having a tough Senate race or the potential effect on 2008.

"We're not taking anything for granted," he said. "Senator Clinton is going to continue to focus on being the best senator that she can and making a strong case for her re-election."

[dandiegirl]

The left wing mainstream media will pull out all the stops for her.

They pulled out all the stops for Kerry too and look what happened to him.

[mirkwood]

[manwiththehands]

"Hildebeaste is ready. Are we?"

I'm sure we are here.

But is the "Republican" party?

[Free Dominoes]

By November 2008 people could be so peeved at Bush for a bunch of reasons that the Rat nominee is guaranteed to win no matter who it is. If nothing else, if Hillary capture the nomination she will be the first woman in American history to win a major party nomination. For these 2 reasons alone I think she will go all out to win the nomination.