New Clinton challenger makes late entry in Senate race

Clinton Challenger Pulled From Reagan-Era Hat - New York Times:

"Those Republican critics [of the Senate candidacy of former Yonkers mayor John Spencer] are now coalescing around a late entry: Kathleen Troia McFarland, 54, a prot�g�e of Henry A. Kissinger who has not been in public service since working as a Pentagon spokeswoman under President Ronald Reagan. Yet Ms. McFarland, known as K. T., is pretty green: She has been a stay-at-home mother since 1985, and was drawn to the Senate race only because she already believed she was going to lose her bid for a Congressional seat on the Upper East Side of Manhattan."

The Times goes on to report that Mrs. McFarland "described herself first as a 'moderate Republican' and then as a 'Reagan Republican.'" Considering her political pedigree - protege of Henry A. Kissinger who was a protege of Nelson A. Rockefeller - one suspects that the first description is nearer the mark.

This is a strange situation. Party operatives scared off attorney and Nixon son-in-law Edward F. Cox so as not to have a contested primary with the establishment's annointed candidate, Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro. Ms. Pirro was chosen on the theory that only a pro-abortion woman challenger can compete with the pro-abortion woman incumbent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Alas the party leaders' clearing the field for Ms. Pirro proved a Pyrrhic victory when her campaign went down in flames. Now, having scrambled to recruit Mr. Spencer, they are embarassed to have to defend his candidacy against yet another pro-abortion woman who has entered the lists at a late hour.

NY State GOP chairman Stephen J. Minarik III has my sympathy. This is a tough spot to be in. I haven't seen Mr. Minarik in many years - we were in national YR politics at the same time - but I remember him as smart, hard-working and tough, so he ought to come through this alright, although it's not clear the same can be said for Mr. Spencer.