New York air war

Clinton and Lazio duke it out on television. Which one is telling the truth?

By Jake Tapper

Jun 20, 2000 | Hillary Clinton has wisely decided not to make the New York Senate campaign about which candidate you might prefer to have sitting shotgun with you on a road trip. The very fact that Clinton -- one of the most famous women in politics, ever -- is only running even in the polls with her mostly unknown opponent, Rep. Rick Lazio, speaks volumes about Clinton's popularity, as National Review editor Rich Lowry has noted.

So last week, Clinton focused on policy, spelling out a number of differences between her political views and Lazio's. She even unveiled some TV ads that address two of these differences, on an HMO patients bill of rights and on so-called "hate crimes" legislation.

"News update," says the first ad. "The Senate just voted to kill the patients bill of rights ... by two votes. Hillary supports it. In the House, Rick Lazio voted against the bill, siding with the Republican leadership. Rick Lazio ... the more you know, the more you wonder."

The second ad, addressing a statewide "hate crimes" law that passed the state Senate in Albany earlier this month, says that "Hillary fought for the bill" while "Rick Lazio was opposed. But five days after it passed, he flip-flopped. The [New York] Post called it an 'about-face.'" Again, the ad concluded with the tag line about blank-slate Lazio. "The more you know, the more you wonder."

Immediately, Lazio's campaign assailed the accuracy of the ads. "Both of these accusations are clearly false," said a Lazio 2000 press release. "This is a desperate act by a desperate campaign," said Lazio's campaign manager, Bill Dal Col. "History teaches us that the first victim of a Clinton campaign is the truth and that is apparently the case in this race as well."

But after closer inspection, the only thing that seems at all damaged is Lazio's fragile ego. Clinton's ads couldn't be more meticulously accurate. Once you remove the partisan characterizations and the zealous adjectives from her Wednesday speech, Clinton's charges are right on the money. And they're smart politics in the Empire State, where there are 2 million more Democratic voters than Republican ones.

Just as voting against a "flag burning amendment" or tax cuts often puts Democrats on the defensive, Clinton is putting Lazio on the defensive on 15-second sound-bite issues that might work against a Republican. And they do seem to be working; Lazio's responses have been uncommonly lame.

Instead of explaining why he feels the way he does on these issues, Lazio accused Clinton of misrepresenting his record. She wasn't. He was. Moreover, Lazio is obviously concerned about Clinton's attacks. As the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported on Monday, Lazio has asked the GOP House leadership for permission to vote against various GOP House appropriations bills so that Clinton can't use them against him. Because, as Lazio must know, any time Clinton can make his Republicanism an issue, she has succeeded at drawing attention away from her liberalism, political baggage and chilly demeanor.

Next Page: Two sides of the same coin?

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