"So when are you going to take on Hillary?" My
friend Ann raised her Democrat eyebrow high enough to let me know
she was looking for an argument.
"I know that you and your pals hate the Clintons," she
challenged as I wondered how this "friend" could have
come to that conclusion. How could I possibly hate anyone I've
never even met?
Her comment, however, made me review my columns written during
what Bill and Hillary Clinton called their co-presidency. I found
no evidence of hateful language nor did I indulge in any personal
attacks. In fact, on two occasions, I defended Mrs. Clinton
against what I felt was unfair criticism. My opinion that the
Clinton presidency was disastrous was based on facts, not on a
personal distaste for the couple.
Last year, when Edward Klein's book, "The Truth About
Hillary," came out, I wrote a column abrading the author for
delving in tabloid sensationalism with titillating personal
disclosures. I made this judgment based only on the reviews. I
even suggested that Mr. Klein wrote the book to curry sympathy
for our senator and that in the end it would benefit her.
Cripes, was I wrong! After getting a copy from the publisher and
actually reading it, I wonder how anyone could consider voting
for her, either for the Senate or the presidency. Then I wake up
and realize that, come November, the liberal majority here will
have their pitcher of Kool-Aid at the ready before they re-elect
her.
Right now, her only opponents are a former Yonkers mayor, John
Spencer, and Kathleen Troia McFarland, who announced that she
shares many of Clinton's positions. Although I've never met Ms.
McFarland, and I've been told by several people that she seems to
be a very nice person, I'm really not interested in meeting a
Hillary clone.
I did meet Mr. Spencer, who came to the Sun office several weeks
ago. He drove himself here with no entourage or campaign aides to
monitor his comments. We sat in the conference room and chatted
for more than an hour, and I realized that the Clinton campaign
would probably skewer him over his private life. I was wrong. The
McFarland campaign manager, Ed Rollins, ignored Reagan's edict of
never attacking another Republican, and savaged him viciously.
John Spencer is a flawed man who made mistakes in his younger
years. In fact, I've been married to a man like that for over 30
years. People do change, and it appears that Mr. Spencer, to his
credit, has no problem admitting his mistakes. He is running his
senatorial campaign on his many accomplishments while in elected
office and offers proposals to better New York. He does not back
away from his pro-life position and that qualifies him as an
extremely brave candidate in New York.
I have no intention of "taking on" Senator Clinton, but
I believe we should take a good look at her record to see how our
state has fared having two representatives from the party not in
power. She has a reputation as a very hard worker, but the
question is: for whom? Senator Clinton did a yeoman's job
securing the lifting of Chinese tariff restrictions, which
greatly benefited an upstate company, Corning. Good for Corning -
which, incidentally, has become the second largest contributor to
her campaign. Yet Corning closed a glass factory in Fall Brook in
2002 and 150 workers lost their jobs. Since 2005, factories in
Lockport, Binghampton and Ira, N.Y., have closed. Upstate New
York is hurting and voters need to know what happened to Mrs.
Clinton's campaign promise to create jobs.
Mentioning China reminds me why I lost all respect for the
Clintons. We all remember Sexgate but not Chinagate. It wasn't
Monica Lewinsky that should have appalled us as much as it was
our president getting campaign funds from the Chinese communists
in exchange for access to computer technology that enhanced their
military capabilities. I ranted with details about this and other
security breakdowns in addition to the disregard for the civil
rights of those who trespassed the Clintons' path. Many who dared
to criticize the president and his first lady were routinely
audited by the IRS, and were accused by Mrs. Clinton of being
part of "the vast right wing conspiracy."
New Yorkers should only be interested in facts, not empty
promises, as the race for the Senate gears up. Edward Klein's
book describes how far Hillary Clinton will go to become
president. I think New Yorkers deserve someone who just wants to
be our senator.