JEANINE PIRRO Conservatives eye rival.
Posted on 11/07/2005 5:10:04 AM PST by Liz
JEANINE PIRRO Conservatives eye rival.
Jeanine Pirro's little-known opponent for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate is close to winning crucial backing from the small but influential Conservative Party, insiders say.
Such a success by former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer would deny Pirro a vital endorsement in what would already be — if she is the GOP nominee — an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. And it would be the latest blow for Pirro, the outgoing Westchester County district attorney whose campaign has been marred by stumbles and fund-raising shortfalls.
Tactically, Spencer, a tough-talking ex-Marine who is far more conservative than Pirro on a range of issues, plans to use Conservative Party backing as leverage to convince many still-uncommitted GOP leaders to back him as the only candidate with a chance to defeat Clinton.
"Spencer clearly has the edge on Jeanine," Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long told The Post. "If our party's convention was held next week, I think Spencer would be the choice." Spencer said, "I feel, at this point, the Conservative endorsement is in the bag."
No Republican since 1974 has won statewide election without Conservative Party support.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Unfortunately, what we are all interested in is defeating Hillary, not Pirro. A strong conservative in a state that is, on balance, quite liberal, would be a huge underdog against her heinous.
The reality is that Pirro is going to lose. The lesson of Dole in '96 vs. Goldwater '64 is that if you are going to lose, you might was well lose advancing a positive agenda and strong leadership that helps to build the movement for the long haul.
This is classic. Hillary will now win in a landslide. We conservatives can now whimper in the dark about our principles and refusal to compromise. Fine, it's easier to be a minority party and not have the burden of actually winning and getting things done. Now Hillary can pat Conservatives on our thick heads and laugh all the way to the Capitol... shades of 'read my lips' and the deformed party all over again.
Looks like New York has some very intriguing potential GOP gubernatorial candidates for 2006; "Rochester billionaire and newly turned Republican Thomas Golisano", and NYC Mayor Bloomberg.
We need a last minute dark horse campaign from Rudy.
If he wants to ever be president, he must first defeat Hillary in 2006.
Only then will he be a true hero to the Republican base and be able to win the GOP nomination.
Agreed. Pirro is no threat to Hillary. It is better to run a strong conservative and make a statement. It will flush out Hillary's views and provide a stark contrast between the GOP and Hillary. She will be the Dem nominee in 2008. Now is the time to get her on the record on a variety of issues.
You can't defeat Hillary by cloning her and slapping on a GOP label. Pirro's essentially a Democrat by her politics, no wonder she can't find contributors.
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Well said.
Pirro would lose anyway. "We conservatives can now whimper in the dark about our principles and refusal to compromise."
... no, stand up and state our beliefs proudly. We've run away from them for too long in the Northeast elections, that's why we keep losing.
The only one who has a chance to beat Hillary is Rudy.
Either recruit him or get a good conservative in there to mess with Hillary.
"The reality is that Pirro is going to lose. "
No one is going to beat Hillary. The goal isn't to beat her. The goal is to bankrupt her for her 2008 run. Force her to spend 100 mil and make the race close.
The only way to beat the left is to take away their funds.
Right, which Pirro won't do either. It is going to be a blow-out.
Who was the last Republican senator from NY? Was it Jacob Javits? I expect the NY Conservative party didn't support him either.
Upstate needs its own state. Then RINOs need not apply.
Agreed
Massachusetts has the same problem.
NY, PA, MA, yup, we all have the same problem. I've been thinking that the reds bits of PA and NYS could combine to make a pretty good state.
Alphonse D'Amato.
The real red vs blue disctions, I think, are city mouse vs country mouse issues.
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