The latest claim from Senator Clinton's camp is that her
campaign chest has swelled to $15.8 million. So, what is she
doing with it?
There hasn't been much evidence that it's being spent on the
Senate race, and her opponent's spokesman, Rob Ryan, says the
real purpose of the money is to fund her 2008 presidential race.
Amazingly, I just received an e-mail from a member of the
Conservative Party's executive committee, Jim Kelly, who states
with all seriousness that Republican John Spencer can win the
Senate race.
The idea of Mrs. Clinton losing is so unlikely that at first
glance it's easy to dismiss the notion until one considers the
one factor that makes this scenario plausible - the turnout.
Mr. Kelly cites statistics that show Mrs. Clinton's defeat is
conceivable given the history of low turnout on statewide
Election Day."Only 5 1/2 million of the 19 million people
vote on a Statewide election day! These numbers clearly are in
our favor," he writes. Then, he adds the big
"ifs."
IF every one of the 800,000 to 1 million law-abiding firearms
owners - believers in the Second Amendment - come out to vote,
"We will win," Mr. Kelly says. Mr. Spencer is a member
of the NRA and is a favorite son of several gun, reel, and
hunting clubs throughout the state. The NRA president says Mrs.
Clinton poses one of the largest threats to our Second Amendment
rights, according to Mr. Kelly.
IF 2 million pro-lifers come out and vote on Election Day, Mr.
Spencer wins, Mr. Kelly says. Mr. Spencer has always been
pro-life and promotes adoption and counseling for women.
Mr. Clinton voted against the ban on partial-birth abortions even
though she straddled the fence in the 2000 Lazio debate, saying,
"Of course, it's a horrible procedure" while expressing
concern for the health of the mother.
IF millions of supporters of America's military vote, Mr. Spencer
will win, Mr. Kelly insists. Mr. Spencer is a decorated Vietnam
veteran. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kelly says, Mr. Spencer
supports the USA Patriot Act and the NSA wiretaps that prevented
the Brooklyn Bridge from being bombed, 10 airliners from coming
down in the Atlantic, and prevented the Lackawanna Six from
entering Erie County.
There were several other detailed "ifs" (about jobs,
taxes, courts, gay marriage, eminent domain, etc.) in Mr. Kelly's
e-mail, accounting for several million votes that could go Mr.
Spencer's way. With debates against Mrs. Clinton upcoming on the
20th and the 22nd, the general public will have a chance to weigh
the differences between the candidates. If Mr. Spencer does
happen to knock Mrs. Clinton offstride in her race to the White
House, it will be the biggest upset since Truman/Dewey in 1948.
With $15 million in the bank, I rather doubt that the Clinton
machine is expecting much of a battle with the former mayor of
Yonkers, especially since she seems to have the mainstream press
in her corner.That may no longer be such a plus, however,
considering the nonsense that just keeps cropping up in the
Fourth Estate.
"Democrat Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes"
is a frivolous contemplation by a Washington Post staffer,
Shailagh Murray, on one reason that the Democrats may take over
Congress in November. The gist: The Democrats are better-looking.
She writes: "Attractive politicians have an edge over
not-so-attractive ones. The phenomenon is resonating especially
this year. By a combination of luck and design, Democrats seem to
be fielding an uncommonly high number of uncommonly good-looking
candidates."
What an insult to women voters even if it's true that looks
impress them, but Ms. Murray will get away with it because she
writes for the Washington Post. When I pointed out in 1992 that
silly women voted for President Clinton just for that reason, an
editor at the Detroit Free Press withdrew an offer I'd received
to write for that liberal press icon. I'll bet that Ms. Murray
didn't compare John Murtha to his very attractive GOP opponent,
Diana Irey.
Whatever candidates Ms. Murray did look over, she obviously
missed Republican candidate Italo Zanzi, who's running for
Congress in Suffolk County. Heads turned when he walked into the
Grand Hyatt a few weeks back. He is tall, young, single, and
sports and movie star handsome. See for yourself at zanzi2006.com
(he's even betterlooking in person).
Come November in the Senate race, if issues are honestly and
civilly debated and Mr. Spencer doesn't get too aggressive toward
Mrs. Clinton, he may avoid the Lazio curse and actually have a
shot. If the Democrats believe looks mean more than substance,
then they'll go down in flames in Suffolk County because Mr.
Zanzi has both.
But if the voters ever ask themselves who Al Qaeda and Osama bin
Laden want in charge of Congress, I bet they'll keep the GOP in
place, even if they may hold their noses while voting.