It's possible. Depends on the Repub candidate though.
While Mrs. Clinton already has $17 million to spend on the race, Ms. McFarland has raised about $600,000 for her Congressional bid, though she and her husband, Alan, an investment banker, are wealthy. Mr. Rollins said she would be more successful than Ms. Pirro with Republican donors nationwide because of her history with President Reagan and her work on military issues, such as being an author of his famous "Star Wars" speech.
"She has the stature and gravitas that Republicans will embrace," Mr. Rollins said. "The former mayor of Yonkers is not necessarily going to be viewed as an impressive candidate by major figures in the party."
Mr. Spencer, who has been running since last spring, dismissed Ms. McFarland in an interview as "a liberal Manhattan Republican elitist" and said she was too late because he had won support from Republicans and the Conservative Party's executive committee. The full Conservative Party will pick its candidate in May; every Republican who has won statewide since 1974 has had its endorsement.
Under Mr. Spencer, crime rates and local taxes fell in Yonkers, and new schools and waterfront projects were built. Yet he had controversy: As mayor, while married, he fathered two children with his chief of staff. After years of questions, he publicly acknowledged the relationship, divorced his wife and married his former aide.
For Stephen J. Minarik III, the state Republican chairman who recruited Ms. Pirro and is now helping Mr. Spencer, it has been a long year of strategizing that he would like to conclude without a Republican primary battle. He said the door was not closed on Ms. McFarland \ufffd who just met yesterday with Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader \ufffd but it was very late to start a candidacy.
"We really have to turn our sights onto Hillary Clinton," Mr. Minarik said, "and stop her before she can run for president."
Oooh. A speechwriter with "gravitas". :-/
It sounds like a rerun of the [link|http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/08/senate.illinois.keyes/index.html|Obama vs. Keyes] race. And we know how that turned out. It's "nice" to see that the Republicans seem to think that all women and minorities are interchangable to their voters.
As things stand now, Clinton should win her Senate race very easily. She'll be in a very good position to run in 2008 for President, if she chooses to do so.
Cheers,
Scott.
