Caught Between the Mayor and New York City.
In the New York City mayoral race next year, Hillary might be in a bit of an awkward situation when it comes to which party's candidate she favors. New York's junior senator happens to get along very well with the city's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who, it may be remembered, was a Democrat not too long ago.
According to the New York Times, Mayor Bloomberg has "cultivated a collegial and even warm relationship with Sen. Clinton, going so far as to invite her and her husband to his Upper East Side town house, where they dined on fried chicken, mashed potatoes and blueberry pie." The two also work closely on issues to benefit the Big Apple, such as when they recently spent 45 minutes in a private meeting after a joint news conference announcing plans to construct new housing for military personnel and their families at Ft. Hamilton in Brooklyn, the city's only active military base, and such as when Hillary praised Mr. Bloomberg on the Senate floor, crediting the Republican with doing a ''tremendous job'' protecting the city in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
While this close relationship may help at times, the re-election campaign of Mr. Bloomberg presents an obvious dilemma for Mrs. Clinton. While no one is expecting Hillary to cross party lines to endorse Mr. Bloomberg next year (as when former New York City GOP Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed incumbent Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo against Republican challenger George Pataki in 1994). There is a question as to how hard she and Democratic colleague Chuck Schumer will work to defeat Mr. Bloomberg. "Chuck and Hillary have no direct interest in opposing Bloomberg,'' said one veteran Democratic strategist of New York politics. ''In fact, there's reason for them to want to stay out of the race. They're in something of a bind as a result.'' The Times noted, "tellingly, Mrs. Clinton would not comment, though her advisers said she would support the Democratic nominee for mayor."
However, if she doesn't work hard to beat the Republican mayor, that could have repercussions for her 2006 re-election bid, as it could end up alienating Democratic voters in New York City, where she must win overwhelmingly in order to best her GOP opponent. And if the Democratic mayoral candidate is black, a woman, or Hispanic, Hillary's lack of support could hurt her efforts to woo minorities, at least according to anonymous Democratic strategists.
Can She get an Amen?
Hillary recently spoke at Tufts University in front of an audience of 5,000 eager and adoring students and faculty. The crowd had stretched a city block and waited in the freezing cold to hear her speak, and repeatedly showered her with applause before she spoke her first word. When the president of Tufts introduced Sen. Clinton, he drew another round of applause when he mentioned that Hillary attracted 300 more spectators than her husband did during his visit two years earlier.
When she finally got to speak, it was mostly about the Middle East. But Hillary also got religion at Tufts, saying it is a mistake for Democrats not to engage Evangelical Christians on "values" issues. "I don't think you can win an election or even run a successful campaign if you don't acknowledge what is important to people," she said. "We don't have to agree with them. But being ignored is a sign of such disrespect. And therefore I think we should talk about these issues."
Then she turned theological, saying that liberals should use the Bible against Christians. "No one can read the New Testament of our Bible without recognizing that Jesus had a lot more to say about how we treat the poor than most of the issues that were talked about in this election."
Library News.
In some brief remarks reminiscent of her role introducing her husband at this past summer's Democratic National Convention, Hillary said a few words in praise of Bill Clinton at the opening of his Presidential Library. Apparently, Hillary thinks the library is just grand, even though it contains a fleeting reference to Monica Lewinsky. Maybe she likes it because it doesn't mention Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick, her own grand jury testimony, or the two scandals in which she was the prime player, Filegate and Travelgate.
In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," Hillary revealed how the library has an apartment where her husband can stay and where "visitors over the next years, you know, they might be standing, looking at an exhibit, or looking at the Oval Office, and somebody will say, what do you think about it? And they'll turn around, it's Bill Clinton." That's just creepy.
