Three-term Westchester County, N.Y., District Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced she will seek the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Hillary Clinton in 2006. Pirro was preceded into the primary field by lawyer Ed Cox, a Richard Nixon son-in-law, and former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer.
In 2001, Pirro told the National Abortion Rights Action League she opposed a ban on partial-birth abortion. Last Monday, she said: "I'm Republican red on fiscal policy, taxes, and foreign policy and the war on terror, but I've got broad blue stripes on social issues." The same day, New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long told the New York Times: "Partial-birth abortion and gay marriage are deal breakers for us. And without us, I don't think she can win for the Senate. No Republican has won statewide office without our endorsement since 1974." The next day, Pirro said she favored banning partial-birth abortion and opposed gay marriage. The Cox campaign released a statement: "On Monday, Ms. Pirro claimed to be 'blue.' On Tuesday, she claimed to be 'red.' Republicans and Conservatives should look at this flip-flop and ask, 'What is she going to be tomorrow.'"
