Spencer for Hire
By Kieran Michael Lalor
Posted On January 03, 2006
The lesson of Jeanine Pirro’s failed candidacy for the U.S. Senate is that when you cut pro-life voters, gun rights advocates and affirmative action opponents from a Republican Senate campaign you are left with a candidacy for a 2006 election that ends in 2005.
Still, conventional wisdom says that only a liberal Republican can win statewide election in New York State. That reasoning ignores right wing Senator Alphonse D’Amato, who triumphed statewide three times and conservative icon Ronald Reagan, who twice carried the Empire State. And these victories came before Republicans began wielding the twin swords of talk radio and the internet to combat media elites who are sympathetic to liberal candidates.
Who could best challenge Hillary Clinton and her dismal record on terrorism? Tough as nails Reagan Republican and Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, a Vietnam veteran – whose wide appeal is enough that he was twice elected mayor of heavily Democratic Yonkers, is the ideal challenger.
Imagine the effect of Spencer, a combat vet, asking Hillary why the administration she was a major part of (Clinton I) treated terrorism as a mere law enforcement matter and did noting when on their watch terrorists killed eighteen soldiers in Somalia, nineteen Airmen in Saudi Arabia and 17 Sailors aboard the U.S.S. Cole. How will Hillary respond when Spencer asks why al Qaeda was at war but the Clintons were not?
Spencer is the rare politician with the guts to point out the outrageous fact that Hillary helped arrange the pardon of FALN terrorists with the blood of New Yorkers on their hands.
Of course, Hillary’s apologists point out that she has shifted her liberal views in recent years and is now a moderate hawk. However, her Senate record does not bear this out.
Spencer is not afraid to point out that Hillary recently filibustered the Patriot Act, the most important tool our government has to thwart domestic terror attacks. He will demand to know why she continues to play politics with our national security by refusing to state her position on wiretapping al qaeda’s phone calls and why Hillary and her party support judicial nominees more concerned about protecting the rights of al Qaeda than the lives of Americans.
Spencer is a straight talker who will energize the base, raise money with ease, turn out the vote, and mount a real challenge to Hillary.
There are a number of positive outcomes that come from Spencer’s candidacy. His charisma, principled stands and remarkable track record will force Hillary to commit financial resources to the 2006 campaign that she would rather save for her inevitable 2008 presidential run.
Once Spencer makes the race close, Hillary may drop out of the race, realizing that she has nothing to gain. Eeking out a victory in 2006 would leave her damaged for a 2008 run.
Even if Hillary stays in the race to the end, New Yorkers will see that John Spencer’s courageous commitment to his principles stands in stark contrast to her history of putting politics above protection. Come November, she may wish she had done what many Democrats want to do in the war: cut and run.
We are in a war against an enemy whose stated goal is to kill Americans. New York has already been hit twice and experts agree New York remains a prime target. This state cannot afford to have a Senator who is a failure at fighting terror and who puts her own political fortunes above her duty to protect her constituents. New York needs a Senator whose priority is victory in the war on terror and not political advancement. Because victory in the war on terror is absolutely essential, New York needs to elect John Spencer to the United States Senate.
Kieran Michael Lalor is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Founder of Eternal Vigilance Society, an independent organization dedicated to winning the War on Terror through the election of leaders who put protecting the nation ahead of politics and who espouse aggressive policies to achieve total victory in the War on Terror.
E-mail this article to a friend.
