NYTimes

Clinton Rival Tries to Make Most of Liberal Anger

By PATRICK HEALY
Published: August 23, 2006
As Ned Lamont basks in his Democratic primary victory in Connecticut, another antiwar underdog is trying to assume the same role of political giant-killer in next month’s elections in New York, though against much bigger prey: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But while Mr. Lamont united liberals and used $4 million of his own money to win his primary, Jonathan Tasini is struggling on a shoestring campaign to rise above his 12 percent standing in the polls, even as he hawks a message of left-wing anger over Iraq to an electorate that is more liberal than Connecticut’s.

Mr. Tasini has qualified for the Sept. 12 primary ballot against Mrs. Clinton, and his positions on the Iraq war, the death penalty and gay marriage are in step with the progressive groups and liberal bloggers that contributed volunteers, money and buzz to Mr. Lamont. Yet some of these partisans say they are deeply reluctant, and in some cases scared, to criticize or abandon Mrs. Clinton, who supported the invasion of Iraq.

They cite her power in the Democratic Party and her careful positioning that has made her, if not antiwar, then a sharp critic of the administration’s handling of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the economy.

A former union leader, tireless and impolitic, Mr. Tasini has stirred some enthusiasm among voters — even young women, who are the Clinton core — and he is increasingly well received by liberal audiences, based on interviews with voters and time spent watching him work crowds.

One reason for the enthusiasm is Mr. Lamont’s upset win over Senator Joseph I. Lieberman; some people wonder if some of that success could be replicated in New York. But Mr. Tasini has raised only $200,000 to Mrs. Clinton’s $44 million, and she has undercut his best shot at visibility by refusing to debate him.

“I’m the eternal optimist, and I have two reasons to be optimistic: 65 percent of people don’t know me, and 62 percent solidly oppose the war,” Mr. Tasini said in an interview, referring to recent polls. “But Hillary is being incredibly antidemocratic by not debating me even though I am on the ballot.”

Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for Senator Clinton, said his camp would “see how the campaign plays out” before making a final decision on a debate. But Mr. Wolfson pointedly added that the New York race would not be a replay of the Connecticut primary two weeks ago.

“The bottom line is that Hillary Clinton is no Joe Lieberman and Jonathan Tasini is no Ned Lamont, and no amount of increasingly over-the-top attacks from Mr. Tasini will change that reality,” he said.

Mr. Wolfson was referring to a series of remarks by Mr. Tasini over the last several months: He has blamed Mrs. Clinton personally for the deaths of 2,500 American service members and others in Iraq, for instance, as well as “tens of thousands of Iraqis.”

Mr. Tasini, who, at 49, has never run for public office before, is a complicated political animal. He has even been sharply critical of Mr. Lamont, arguing that he is insufficiently antiwar and would never have won without spending $4 million of his own money.

Mr. Lamont, like Mrs. Clinton, has also strongly supported Israel in the ongoing conflict with Lebanon, while Mr. Tasini — who has many family members in Israel — has chastised Israel for its bombing and invasion of Lebanon.

Mr. Tasini can come across as smart, credible, self-effacing, bombastic, self-aggrandizing and haughty, sometimes all in one conversation. Asked about his huge deficit in public opinion polls, Mr. Tasini can spin like a veteran politician: “If 100 percent of the population knew me, would I get all 62 percent of the antiwar vote? Well, maybe not all.”

Some members of the National Writers Union, which Mr. Tasini led from 1990 to 2003, have openly described him as an opportunist, and his response is couched in characteristic hyperbole.

“I don’t think I walk on water, but I am not the devil incarnate,” he said.

Mr. Tasini was born in Houston but spent part of his childhood in New York State and now lives in Washington Heights, in Manhattan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

To many antiwar partisans and liberal groups, Mr. Tasini is also not enough of a threat to Mrs. Clinton to be useful in pressuring her over Iraq. They say that instead of intervening in the primary race, it is more important to keep Mrs. Clinton as an ally and try to influence her foreign policy in friendly ways, since she could well become a presidential candidate in 2008. Otherwise, some fear, she might freeze them out.

James Dean, the head of Democracy for America, a grass-roots group that fervently supported Mr. Lamont, said he planned to stay on the sidelines in the Clinton-Tasini contest.

Mr. Dean said that his group was not scared to take on Senator Clinton over Iraq, but that there was “a time and a place” for such challenges — and spurning her within her own party did not make sense.

“I think progressives are a lot more pragmatic than people think, and there are only so many battles that you can pick in one election year,” said Mr. Dean, whose brother, Howard Dean, inspired the group during his presidential bid in 2004. “Hillary has also clearly been a critic of the administration.”

Roger Hickey, a co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal group that praised the Lamont victory, initially declined to speak about Mr. Tasini’s bid. He agreed to comment on the New York race only in relatively narrow terms.

“Hillary by and large is a team player in terms of Democratic Party politics, and there’s one issue — the war — where we all felt she should have changed her position and where she is very slowly modifying to an antiwar position,” Mr. Hickey said. “The Connecticut race required one tactic from activist groups, a frontal tactic, and other races require other sorts of tactics.”

Markos Moulitsas, whose blog, the Daily Kos, championed Mr. Lamont, was more blunt in explaining why he had not taken up Mr. Tasini’s banner.

“I fed off the excitement and energy Lamont created amongst Connecticut activists and bloggers,” Mr. Moulitsas wrote in an e-mail message. “I see none of that energy or excitement for Tasini.”

Mr. Tasini said he had a chicken-and-egg problem: Groups like MoveOn.org say their New York members are not excited enough about Mr. Tasini to become involved in the race, yet these groups have not systematically polled members to determine that.

As a result, Mr. Tasini has had little help with introducing himself to voters. Some of them are not sure what to make of him, anyway.

Tramping across picnic blankets before the outdoor movie in Bryant Park on Monday night — “Take off your shoes,” people yelled — Mr. Tasini drew skeptical glares as he bellowed: “New York Democrats? Any Democrats here?”

Here and there he was invited to make his pitch: that Senator Clinton “supports criminalizing flag-burning,” “supports discrimination against gay couples on marriage,” and “supports the Yankees even though I’m the lifelong Yankees fan.” He was clearly grateful for any attention.

Out of 20 voters who talked to Mr. Tasini, about half said in interviews afterward that they would consider voting for him. Among those were a group of young female voters, a demographic that the Clinton camp views as part of its core support.

“I think Senator Clinton’s more of an opportunist, like supporting the war and now really criticizing it,” said Sarah Kaufmann, 23, a teacher in New York. “I hadn’t heard much about that guy before tonight, but he sounded like he cared about Democratic ideals.”