Posted on 10/27/2002 1:28:36 PM PST by woofie
Senator Hillary Clinton was facing the destruction of her New York power base yesterday as her Democratic Party headed for humiliation in the state gubernatorial election on November 5.
In an extraordinary upset, a traditionally Democratic state appears poised not only to re-elect a Republican governor, but to force the Democrat challenger into third place behind a pro-business Independence Party candidate with no record of public service.
Political analysts predict that such a humiliation could damage the former First Lady's credibility as a New York senator and a much-touted future potential presidential candidate.
"The Clintons were supposed to be helping revitalise the New York Democratic Party, not presiding over its destruction," one senior local party member said privately.
Both the Clintons and the party appear to have misjudged the election. The seeds of potential destruction lie in both a historic division between New York city liberals and the more conservative "upstate" voters, and the choice of candidate selected.
Bill Clinton, who stayed out of the battle during the candidate-selecting primaries, was finally prompted into a visible role last week after the New York Post printed a headline screaming: "Dems to Bubba [a southern term for a white male]: It's Time to Panic."
He appeared at a Manhattan rally with the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall. Then, on a night when the incumbent governor George Pataki dined with the popular ex-mayor Rudolph Giuliani at a party fund-raiser, the Clintons joined a Democratic gathering at a fashionable nightclub.
The alarm was raised when opinion polls showed a surge for the Independence Party's Tom Golisano, a businessman from the state's northern industrial belt. Figures from one leading poll showed Governor Pataki on 47 per cent, Mr McCall on 31 and Mr Golisano on 18 - up from 14 on September 25.
In some suburban areas, Mr Golisano had inched to within two points of Mr McCall, a powerful black politician whose campaign has been hit by a scandal over alleged improper use of influence.
Among the independent swing-voters who can decide an election, Mr Golisano was actually a nose ahead, at 22 per cent to 21 per cent.
"If Golisano manages to come in second - and I think that's possible - that will be a significant humiliation to the Democratic Party, and it would put New York into the 'swing states' column for the presidential elections of 2004," said Hank Sheinkopf, who has been fired as Mr McCall's campaign strategist.
"The problem is that we thought Golisano would hurt Pataki, but that's not happening."
Mrs Clinton faces more than a publicity setback. Under the American voting system, she is not due to stand for re-election until 2004.
A Golisano success now would mean that when that election day comes, New York voters would find her as a Democratic candidate relegated to third place on ballot sheets, behind Republicans and the Independence Party.
I like the way that sounds......
Naw.... she's the one in waiting to save the Party.....
In a development that could mean Sen. Hillary Clinton is now her party's presidential front-runner, 53 percent of Democrats told an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey taken last week that Gore should "step aside" in 2004 in favor of another candidate, with only 38 percent saying the former veep should try again.
2004? Isn't hers a six-year term, or is she finishing up Moynihan's term instead of a full six-year term?
Just wonderin'.
g
The media still hasn't got it !!! The Xlinton's have been leaving a wake of destruction from the day they were born !!! Geez... what did they expect? Hitlary to wave a majic wand over New York and hope it would be the perfect state? Yea, right !!!
Oh, the humiligration! Someone will pay for that.
Maybe she can get an annulment. The best argument
that the marriage was never consummated would be
Chelsea.
Exactly! This is NOT a Clinton failure; this is a Clinton victory.
Wherever they are, the Clintons get it all. It's Stalinism. First you use your allies to get rid of your enemies. Then you get rid of your old allies because they are set to become your future rivals. There are always new allies to be found who believe, against all odds, that they will survive and prosper as your friends (of course, they won't).
Andrew Cuomo will probably run for New York City Mayor in 2005 with the puppetmasters pulling his strings
Memo to Chuck Schumer: You're Next.
I'm f*cked if I know!!
I will be eternally ashamed of New York for elevating this Bitch way beyond her station!!
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