Posted on 04/06/2002 7:09:25 AM PST by Elkiejg
Hillary Clinton and her one-time political nemesis Rudy Giuliani may be scrapping for a political rematch - this time through surrogates in the California governor's race.
Clinton and Giuliani duked it out two years ago in the New York Senate race, in what was shaping up as the political donnybrook of the year until prostate cancer and a very public marital spat forced the former New York City mayor to a neutral corner.
In February, Giuliani traveled to the Golden State to stump for conservative Republican Bill Simon, in a move that was widely credited with giving Simon the boost he needed to beat the then-GOP primary front-runner, ex-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
Now Sen. Clinton has popped up on the West Coast, touting Democrat incumbent Gray Davis as her choice.
Friday night she headlined a fund-raiser that was expected to extract $1 million from state Democrats on behalf of the beleaguered governor, whose sagging approval ratings still haven't recovered from his mismanagement of the energy crisis last year.
Rather than focus on the energy debacle, Mrs. Clinton praised Davis' support for abortion during her two-day swing through the state.
"He is pro-choice and proud of it," she crowed to a crowd at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on Thursday. "He has fought for and will continue to fight for women's rights and that's something that I don't think anybody can take for granted."
Clinton's comments were designed to keep the pro-life Simon on the defensive on the abortion issue, a strategy that seemed to be working in recent days.
Pundits now wonder, will Giuliani make a return trip to California and rescue Simon again?.
He could certainly help neutralize the Clinton threat - beginning with a crash course for California voters on Mrs. Clinton's Pardongate vote-trading scam, as well as her husband's decision to grant clemency to notorious billionaire-fugitive Marc Rich, whom the ex-New York mayor prosecuted as U.S. Attorney in 1983.
Could Pardongate really help make Bill Simon governor? Ask L.A.'s new mayor James Hahn, who campaigned heavily against the Clinton scandal last year and was rewarded with a stunning upset victory.
While the media pretends voters no longer care about the Clinton scandals, Hahn's decision to hammer his primary opponent Antonio Villaraigosa for writing a letter recommending a pardon for drug dealer Carlos Vignale proved to be the turning point in the race.
After a three-week Hahn ad campaign spotlighting the Clinton-Vignale pardon, Villaraigosa's double-digit lead in the polls collapsed.
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