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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (13181)	8/12/2007 8:26:57 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224729

Is this the NY Slimes political page or gossip column?: >The two New York candidates are not fading in the presidential race — yet. What would a head-on battle be like? Opposition researchers are already up to speed. By PATRICK HEALY, The New York Times Published: August 12, 2007 WELL, a New York political reporter can dream, can’t he? Yes, Fred Thompson is getting ready to run. Sure, Mitt Romney has loads of money. O.K., Barack Obama can make cynical Democrats swoon. Yet as confounding as it may be, polls regularly show that two New Yorkers may end up as the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates in 2008 — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudolph W. Giuliani. Mrs. Clinton’s widely known name has helped her build a lead over her rivals. On the Republican side, Mr. Giuliani continues to engage voters as the white knight of 9/11, and he has shown steadiness as some of his rivals have stumbled. So let’s dream a little. What would the race look like? It would be personal, pitting opponents with deep history from their home base who nearly faced off for the Senate seat Mrs. Clinton won in 2000. Both have killer instincts, and each has an archive of opposition research on the other. They may not despise each other, their advisers say. But despite the need to remain presidential, they would, in the end, drive each other batty. “Hillary and Rudy would pursue a similar strategy: Do things to taunt the other to get them to lose their temper,” said Kenneth Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College in New York who has followed both politicians closely. “He would push allegations of ethical impropriety in the Clinton White House and link her to all the old Clinton scandals,” Mr. Sherrill said. “And she could go after him on cronyism with people like Bernie Kerik” (the former New York City police commissioner). You can imagine the biting sarcasm — the way Mr. Giuliani would sneeringly refer to Mrs. Clinton as “her,” the way she would dress him down as “the mayor.” And oh, the catty asides from Bill Clinton and Judith Giuliani! The New York tabloids would pursue their prey with extra zest. Every move by the candidates’ spouses would be scrutinized. Ditto for their entire families. You can imagine The New York Post watching to see if Chelsea Clinton pulls off an October surprise by making a secret mission to Cambridge to persuade the Harvard sophomore Caroline Giuliani to endorse the Democratic mama over the Republican papa. “Mom would even let you hold the Dunster House senior party in the Map Room!” Ms. Clinton might say. For sure, Mr. Giuliani and Mrs. Clinton would try to outdo each other on the security issue. He would push her to prove that a woman could be tough enough as commander in chief. You could imagine dueling news conferences near Ground Zero, she with chronically ill firefighters from the pile, he with police officers and widows — and his archnemesis, Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice, shouting questions about why the mayor put the city’s emergency command center at the World Trade Center, of all places. Mr. Giuliani might have to tone down his pugilistic style. “Rudy and she will get personal, and he’s going to have to be very careful that he not seem like he’s the mean guy making her a victim,” said Ed Rollins, the Republican strategist. “He has to calibrate it just the right way so she continues to engage him, rather than paint him as hot-tempered.” Mrs. Clinton may come off as the student government president, at peace with Robert’s Rules of Order. But she likes it when the battle is joined, and Mr. Giuliani might push her to show that she would fight back as president. “My sense is she won’t get to be quite the lady she’s been, ‘’ Mr. Rollins said. “She will not take his attacks lightly.” Especially given the singular political threat Mr. Giuliani could pose. With his relatively moderate stances on abortion rights and gay civil unions, Mr. Giuliani might win over enough independents and undecided Democrats to be competitive in usually reliable Democratic states like New Jersey. And he would have a head start in key battlegrounds like Ohio. Mr. Giuliani’s appeal could push Mrs. Clinton to run harder to the left, to keep abortion rights supporters firmly at her side. And she might have to recalculate her thinking on a running mate. To keep New Jersey safely blue, might she tap her friend Gov. Jon Corzine, whose liberalism might also help her on the left? Or to make a real run at Florida, might she pick that state’s senior senator, Bill Nelson? Some Democrats close to Mrs. Clinton predict a Midwesterner or Southerner as her No. 2. (Mr. Giuliani would give her a race in California) These Democrats see her picking former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, or — lest we forget — Senator Barack Obama.<