By Anthony Rifilato
Clinton has become so popular that even President Bush and Vice President Cheney have acknowledged her in recent weeks as a strong presidential candidate if she chooses to run in 2008. Her popularity has given her a huge advantage over her Republican opponent, John Spencer, in her bid for re-election next week.
Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers, has fought a steep uphill battle. He has been forsaken by his own party, trails by a huge margin in the polls and is substantially underfinanced in his attempt to unseat Clinton, who he claims is using New York as a springboard for a presidential run in two years.
"I think New York state extended her a welcome mat and she's using us as a door mat," Spencer said in a phone interview with the Herald. "Every vote she casts, she's thinking how it helps her in other states to get the nomination for president."
During her debate with Spencer on Oct. 20, Clinton said she would ponder a 2008 presidential bid, but for now, she insists, she is fully committed to representing New York in the Senate.
The issues
She has used that stage to recalibrate her stance on a number of issues, including universal health care - a project she took on as first lady that was a major failure, and to which she has since taken a more incremental and modest approach. Clinton says she has worked for three years to implement a health care information tracking system - though she said it failed to pass in the House - and has voted against Medicare Part D.
"I voted against Medicare Part D because I thought it was a bait and switch," Clinton said during a meeting with journalists last month. "We need a cheaper, more reliable program."
Clinton introduced legislation to fund research comparing the effectiveness of alternative drugs, to assure that seniors and other health care consumers are aware of which drugs are most effective as opposed to which ones are advertised the most. The legislation was included in the Medicare bill enacted in 2004.
Overall, Clinton said she remains committed to quality health care for all Americans, adding that it needs to be overhauled. "I'm more encouraged that we can get something done in the next five years," she said.
Spencer has railed against Clinton's initiatives, saying that he is against "big government" health care, and that small businesses are finding it tough to provide health insurance for their employees, something he would address as senator. "They have gotten no help from Hillary Clinton," said Spencer, who favors empowering corporations via tax cuts and setting up health savings accounts for employees, in part through the creation of business pools.
On the Economy
Spencer said those initiatives are linked to economic development and job growth in the state. He favors permanent tax cuts, and pledged to work with local officials to achieve that goal. "That is the thing that needs to be done to make New York competitive," Spencer said. "New York state is not competing [with other states], and we're losing businesses on Long Island and upstate."
Spencer also blasted Clinton on her pledge to jump-start the upstate economy, something she vowed to make a first priority when she took office in 2000. "She's been an absolute failure," he said.
But Clinton maintained that she has been effective in helping the state economy, in part by providing numerous tax incentives, among other initiatives. "I've worked very hard to help the job base grow," she said.
More locally, Clinton said Long Islanders contend with enormous taxes and a high cost of living. "Every part of family life on Long Island is squeezed," she said. Part of the problem, she believes, is unfunded mandates such as the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and she said she has been trying to get the government to "do its fair share" and provide funding relief for schools.
Clinton also said she believes that there needs to be more job growth and affordable housing to stave off the flight of young people from Long Island. She added that she supports gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer's progressive plan to cut taxes, and that she would work with him if he were elected to ease the high cost of living in the area.
Immigration
Both candidates believe that the U.S.'s borders need to be secured, though they differ on how to achieve that. Spencer believes there needs to be comprehensive immigration reform. He is not for amnesty, he said, but would support looking into whether some illegal immigrants could qualify for citizenship. "There are 12 to 15 million people here illegally, being exploited," he said. "Government has to do its job and go through the immigration reform process."
Like Spencer, Clinton said she adamantly opposes illegal immigration, and has called for tighter border controls, possibly including a high-tech border fence. She also said that the federal government has to get tough on employers who hire illegal immigrants, among other measures.
"If we don't get tough on employers, people are going to keep coming," she said. But Clinton also takes a pragmatic view of the issue, saying that after 10 to 15 years, illegal immigrants should be eligible for citizenship. "Deporting all of them is not going to happen," she said. "We have to get these people out of the shadows, [and make them] pay fines for coming here illegally and learn English."
Homeland security and national defense
Clinton believes that New York is under-funded when it comes to protecting its ports, subways and tunnels. "We are the number one targets of terrorists," she said. "The money should follow the threat."
Clinton touts the $20 billion she secured for New York City's cleanup and recovery in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as legislation to ensure that the families of firefighters, police and other public safety officers who died in the attacks received their benefits immediately. She also said she introduced landmark homeland security legislation to provide direct funding to communities and first responders.
But Spencer criticized Clinton's effectiveness in addressing security in New York, saying that she opposed the Patriot Act and National Security Agency wiretaps, two valuable tools in the war on terror, he said. "She is weak on defense," Spencer said. "She eventually voted for it, but was embarrassed into it by Republicans. I would be a senator who would be for employing techniques we need so that New Yorkers never go through another 9/11."
Clinton voted for the Patriot Act in 2001, and said in a statement in 2005 that it is an important tool against terrorism. She also voted for its reauthorization, though publicly she has taken serious issue with what she considers its infringement on civil liberties, maintaining that it does not strike a "proper balance" in combating terrorism.
Surprisingly, Clinton has been a staunch supporter of the armed services and a strong military presence abroad, traits that are most closely associated with Republicans. In 2002 she was offered a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, a first for a senator from New York.
She has stood by her vote authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq, but has since criticized Bush for the administration's handling of the war, and said that progress is not being made in Iraq. "'Stay the course' is not working," Clinton said. "The president and vice president have turned out to be extremely stubborn."
Clinton said that if Democrats gain control of one or both houses of Congress, the result could spur a different strategy in Iraq. But Spencer, who supports the war, said that while the administration's strategy may have to be examined, the U.S. must stay the course. "First of all, Clinton voted to go to war," he said. "All wars end up a messy situation and don't go well, but we're there."
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