Results tagged “republicansenate”

Former Westchester County District Attorney - and one-time Attorney General candidate and potential Senate candidate - Jeanine Pirro and her husband Al Pirro have announced they are separating. Their statement to the press: "We have agreed to amicably separate. As always, our priority remains our two wonderful children. We ask that people respect our privacy. There will be no further comment." The couple has been married 32 years and have weathered through many years of...

Hill-arious! Republican Senate hopeful John Spencer denied telling Daily News reporter Ben Smith that he thought opponent Hillary Clinton was ugly and probably had plastic surgery. Spencer did admit to noticing how Clinton's style had changed, but says he never questioned Bill Clinton's decision to marry.

As he stumps for various Repubican candidates vying for win durings the 2006 elections, Rudy Giulaini is, more than ever, bandied about as a possible 2008 presidential candidate. The NY Times has a big article about Giuliani - and the GOP - riding his September 11 coattails. Given that Giuliani is a difficult hybrid of stances - pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, pro-choice, very divorced (and Italian, to boot!) - focusing on September 11 is all there is, and supporters do seem to love Rudy because of "9/11" and, uh, fighting crime. But beyond that, they don't know much about him - one of Iowa's leading Republicans said he didn't know anything about Bernard Kerik or toxic dust at Ground Zero.

With just 55 days left, the dance cards are set for the general election. As expected, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Clinton won their respectives primaries for governor and Senate. The NY Times noted that Clinton's reosounding win showed that her support of the Iraq war did not affect voter sentiment:

“Clinton’s work ethic, her lack of enemies, and her fund-raising help for other Democrats have insulated her from party criticism, including on Iraq,” said Ken Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College. “I got a taped phone call from Susan Sarandon urging support for Tasini, but that’s all I really heard about him.”

On the Republican side of the Senate race, former Yonkers mayor John Spencer won the nomination. Given the mess the Republican Senate nominees are in, it's safe to say Clinton has it in the bag. Next up for Spitzer, though, is facing a campaign from Republican John Faso, who Spitzer leads 67% to Faso's 21% in a Marist poll.

“Her position on Iraq is largely dependent on current circumstances and whatever audience she happens to be speaking before,” said Mr. Elliott. “Just by having that side, that kind of argument, put in contrast with whatever Hillary believes, she would just be forced to contend with an unequivocal position. She has for the most part been hedging her stance.”And all articles point to the fact that like Senator Joe Lieberman, Clinton has been pro-war whereas Tasini is anti-war. (Of course, Clinton has tons of money to spend on a campaign.) The NY Times has a quote from Marko Moulitsas that explains the lack of online enthusiasm for Tasini: “I fed off the excitement and energy [Ned] Lamont created amongst Connecticut activists and bloggers. I see none of that energy or excitement for Tasini.” Well, Clinton is married to Bill Clinton, while Tasini is no millionaire - he's only raised $200,000, which left him short of the $500,000 mark that NY1 requires for candidates to debate.

Many politicians will be marching in the Gay Pride Parade, as it's a big election year, and, like many constituencies with issues at stake, the gay community generally heads to the polls to support their candidates. Which makes Republican Senate hopeful Kathleen T. McFarland's new disclosure about her family fascinating. The NY Times reports that McFarland's advisers told to her reveal that her childhood home was "physically abusive" and why she became estranged with her gay brother (it was over "objections to his lifestyle"). McFarland went public with the information because two letters she wrote to her parents about the abuse "have found their way into the hands of a magazine reporter." The actual statement doesn't directly refer to her brother being gay in the statement, but the Times article explains McFarland didn't attend her HIV-positive brother's funeral "out of concern about a confrontation with her parents."

The Gay Pride Parade started at noon at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, but don't worry, you'll be able to check it out as it winds its way down Fifth, making a right when it right 8th Street and then heads towards Christopher Street, and will take a few hours. And there will be lots of celebrating along the way and afterwards, what with Pridefest and the Dance on the Pier. The parade's co-Grand Marshals are Florent Morellet and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Yesterday in Manhattan, Westchester D.A. Jeanine Pirro made her first lengthy remarks outlining her goals - and attacking Senator Hillary Clinton - and also got fouled up in the middle of her speech when she spent 32 seconds searching for page 10 of her speech and couldn't discuss tax deficit issues. That intern who collated the speech is totally fired! And at a speech in Albany, a Pirro campaign aide apparently didn't plug in a device that fed sound to TV and radio coverage. D'oh! The Daily News says the campaign of Ed Cox, son-in-law of Richard Nixon and another person eyeying the Republican Senate nomination, called her a flip-flopper because Pirro suddenly announced she was against late-term abortions. Hey, did Cox's folks need to consult the Republican Party Style Guide, because we thought flip-flopper was only a word Republicans called Democrats. Anyway, the a new Marist poll shows that the appearance of Pirro turns Clinton's 64% in pre-Pirro days to 50%, but Pirro would still trail by a ton, with only 22%.