Hillary's Choice...

With the announcement of a GOP opponent for her Senate seat yesterday, Hillary has a decision in front of her.

Should she stay or should she go? At first look, most folks would pick Hillary to win in a cakewalk. But not so fast. Jeanine Pirro may be low on name recognition now, but her resume is quite impressive as a District Attorney in Westchester County who is originally from upstate. Conservative on fiscal matters, but Liberal on social issues - particularly on abortion - Pirro is a woman who can take away the "poor me" victim role that Hillary usually plays in the face of any opposition.

Initial polls have Hillary up to 63%, but that's mostly because Pirro is not that well known. This will change in the heat of a campaign. While Hillary is still likely to hold the seat, the feisty D.A. could give her a real run for her money.

At the very least, Jeanine Pirro is an aggressive campaigner who exudes confidence and a firm grasp of the issues. Such a persistent and articulate opponent could bloody Mrs. Clinton on the debating stage and pin her down on her Liberal voting record. But the Washington Prowler report in the American Spectator poses the real conundrum that she faces.

What Hillary has to consider now is whether it is worth it to win a Senate seat by five percentage points and break a promise to voters about serving a full term if re-elected, or whether it will be better simply to be honest with the voters, and choose not to seek re-election and instead begin an early campaign for the presidential nomination many Democrats expect her to seek.

The more I think about this, the more I love it. It's likely Hillary was expecting a quick reelection for very little expense against some token GOP candidate without a prayer. Maybe she was even hoping to spend some of 2006 campaigning for other Senators or rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses in Iowa or New Hampshire.

Well, if she decides to bow out, that's exactly what she can do. But she loses the advantage of all the free media coverage she could get as a sitting Senator. The plot thickens...

Oh and BTW, it doesn't exactly hurt that Pirro is much easier on the eyes. As the Museum of Left-Wing Lunacy points out.

UPDATE: 5:00pm
A man who knows her all too well weighes in.

Hillary would love to cloak her Senate re-election as a necessity in the face of a determined GOP effort to overturn Roe vs. Wade and to roll back the clock on gun controls. But against Pirro, she will be disarmed of all her best issues. She will have to run on her own record, which is limited at best.

Posted by: Gary at 03:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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