Clinton, Spitzer challengers facing petition deadline
By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer
Newsday
July 8, 2006, 8:29 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The group of statewide candidates trying to force primary elections by way of the petition drive say the process is both an exhausting, expensive grind and an exhilarating, exciting way to get in touch with voters.
The deadline for potential Democratic primary opponents of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer _ anti-Iraq war activist Jonathan Tasini and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, respectively _ is Thursday.
While Clinton and state Attorney General Spitzer, as the designated candidates of the state party convention, have automatic spots on any primary ballot, Tasini and Suozzi need the signatures of at least 15,000 Democrats statewide to force a Sept. 12 primary, a time-consuming and expensive process.
"We're going to be on the ballot," Tasini boasted Thursday, predicting his campaign would file at least 30,000 signatures.
Suozzi has also said he will be on the ballot.
Both Tasini and Suozzi hired workers to supplement volunteers working on the signature gathering.
The rule of thumb in New York is to try to have twice or even three times the number of signatures required to discourage challenges. The state Board of Elections and the courts can knock candidates off the ballot, and have done so, who don't meet the requirements.
Tasini said the downside of having to petition is that "it does absorb an enormous amount of time, time that you might be using for other things."
"On the other hand, it's a wonderful way of campaigning. You learn a lot about where voters minds are at," said Tasini, a labor advocate and former president of the National Writers' Union.
Tasini said many Democrats he meets are upset that Clinton voted to go to war in Iraq and has since refused to back calls for a specific timetable to bring U.S. troops home.
While the Clinton camp has largely ignored Tasini, there are indications she is increasingly taking the criticism of her from anti-war activists to heart. On Tuesday, she said that if Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost his Democratic primary in Connecticut, she would cut her support for him. Lieberman, a staunch supporter of the war, has become a major target of anti-war Democrats.
"I think she would have not said anything (about Lieberman) had I not been in this primary," Tasini said. "She knows that there is enough anger building in her base that she could not stay silent on that."
National polls have Clinton as the front-runner among potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders, and the liberal wing of the party, which tends to be against the war, dominates the primary process.
Adviser Howard Wolfson noted that Clinton had a primary challenge in 2000. She easily dispatched Mark McMahon, a Manhattan surgeon who mounted an anti-carpetbagger campaign against the Illinois-born, former first lady of Arkansas.
"Senator Clinton will be working hard to earn every vote," Wolfson said when asked about the seriousness of the potential 2006 primary challenge.
Also on the petition trail are three Democrats _ Mark Green, Charlie King and Sean Patrick Maloney _ seeking to force former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo into a primary for the party's attorney general nomination.
The trio all said they have gathered enough signatures to qualify, a claim that can't be verified until the petitions are filed. The first day they can be filed is Monday.
Calling the petition process "a fantastic adventure," former Clinton White House aide Maloney said "it makes you a better candidate" even if it does take time away from fundraising and "thinking about policy."
"It's exhausting, exhilarating and educational," said Green, New York City's former elected public advocate who narrowly lost the 2001 New York City mayor's race.
Green said he collected 162 signatures on Wednesday at the Staten Island ferry terminal.
"You're spending scarce energy, funds and time, but the return is actually enormous. People are beginning to understand it's a street candidate versus the political insider," said Green, a reference to the status of Cuomo, the elder son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
King, a former Clinton administration housing official, noted he has experience with the petition process from 2002. That is the year the younger Cuomo ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor with King as his choice for lieutenant governor.
"I know where all the good petitioning waterholes are," said King. "I've got calluses on my right hand because I've shaken so many hands."
A downside of petitioning is that potential supporters tend to hold back, King said. "People want to make sure they are supporting someone who's actually on the ballot."
"The upside is that you actually are starting the retail campaign in earnest earlier than you might otherwise. It also forces your operation to get sharper, quicker," King added. "And, you do lose weight. It's hot and muggy. You burn a lot of calories."
"I would have liked to have less rain," said Tasini following what was, for some areas of New York, the wettest June ever. "There are just fewer people out on the streets."
