Posted on 10/21/2002 1:09:20 AM PDT by Liz
Edited on 05/26/2004 5:09:43 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Former President Bill Clinton has been bluntly warned that New York Democrats face "national humiliation" because of Carl McCall's poorly run campaign for governor.
Clinton was grimly told a few days ago that McCall may finish an embarrassing third in the Nov. 5 balloting - behind Gov. Pataki and Independence Party candidate Tom Golisano, who has been surging in recent polls.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
This is what the Repubs need. . .
Except maybe the Dem pol who's spilling the beans mighta been back-stabbed and is taking revenge.
Great!. . .and now if Clinton would just 'be there' for Frank in New Jersey. . .
Democrats made a Faustian bargain with Beelzebubba. The note is now due.
I respectfully disagree with the NYPost on this prediction.
If Pataki unleashes a barrage against Golisano, the only people who will respond are potential McCall voters who will return to their guy. If Pataki did not care who got the votes, Golisano or McCall, this strategy might make some sense. But I think he really does want McCall to come in third.
The people who have abandoned Pataki for Golisano are the more libertarian and low-tax Republicans. These people are never going to go back to a tax-and-spender like Pataki. He just has to write them off.
The other half of Golisano's support are the people who view him as being an attractive alternative who are unsatisfied with their candidate, Carl McCall. Golisano has managed to define himself through his own TV commercials, with very little negative opposition. This makes him look attractive to the people who do not examine things closely. But most of these people are Democrat or Democrat-leaning.
The vast majority of voters that Pataki would dislodge by running attack ads on Golisano are going to go to his opposition. An intensely negative campaign by Pataki on Golisano is the only possible way McCall can get enough votes to win this thing.
Pataki should just keep with what is working. Negative attacks against McCall, to try to disrupt the Democrat vote, combined with positive messages about his own incumbancy, in an attempt to win as many votes as possible and to come close to an absolute majority.
Bill Clinton... the first black president would do what's right. What a total a-hole!
Coumo would have killed for the Clintons. HRC wanted him to win the primary bad.
I think all that nose-candy Billy-boy has done over the years is catching up w/him.
HRC must be livid! HA!
Get inside his head for a moment - - a disgusting thought for sure. bill clinton never wanted hillary to be a Senator, let alone have a chance at the Oval Office. It's cramping his style to have her waddling around the Capitol and grabbing cameras and microphones.
bill clinton couldn't care less about McCall. As long as this maneuver keeps hillary out of the White House in '04 or whenever, he'll be satisfied. hillary has to support McCall. bill is supporting him for his own, as usual, selfish reasons.
I still maintain that hillary's biggest threat to higher office, other than herself, is bill. Go bill!
Indubitably a first for the Party of Self-Esteem. /sarcasm off
The clue to this is the "lip-biting" comment. It is just too much ...gilding the lily, if you will.
In addition, if Clinton had been told what this article says, he would have flown into a rage and blamed someone else.
McCall may indeed be in trouble, but I don't think Pataki should attack Golisano. It will further alienate conservatives and do nothing to increase his numbers. I agree with gridlock.
I suspect Pataki is not going to fall for this little charade (dreamed up no doubt by the Clinton camp and using Mr. Dicker as a patsy) and will continue with his successful campaign strategy.
It is an offshoot of Ross Perot's Reform Party. Golisano was its founder and/or chief financier in New York.
Pataki entered a primary against Golisano for the Indepenence Party line, and Pataki lost by only a few hundred votes, an embarrassment for Golisano considering it was his own party. Golisano spent about $3,000 for every Independence Party primary vote he received!
Judging from past performances, I can almost hear the NY Post editors saying, " We will not run planted Dem stories in this paper."
And there is a named source mentioned who was in the McCall camp and was fired. The disgruntled former insider types are usually good for a story or two.
My thoughts, exactly.
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