Journal News

Clinton's primary foe focuses on Iraq
By GLENN BLAIN

(Original publication: September 5, 2006)

It has gone largely unnoticed in New York, but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton does face a Democratic primary on Sept. 12.

Upstart Democrat Jonathan Tasini, a union organizer from Manhattan, has been waging a low-budget, grass-roots campaign against Clinton, focusing largely on the war in Iraq.

"Hillary Clinton voted for the war and continues to support the occupation," Tasini told The Journal News recently.

Tasini said he believes it's possible he can achieve the sort of upset that anti-war candidate Ned Lamont scored last month in Connecticut, although he concedes that he does not have the $4 million in personal funds that Lamont spent on his race against Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Most polls show Clinton easily defeating Tasini, despite growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq.

A WNBC-Marist Poll taken last month had Clinton favored by 80 percent of Democratic voters, compared with 15 percent for Tasini.

"Hillary Clinton is not Joe Lieberman," said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff. "They voted initially the same (on the war), but Hillary Clinton has been much more critical of the war and Joe Lieberman has been looking like the undersecretary of defense."

Clinton has increased her criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the war in recent months and even called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

The incumbent has largely ignored Tasini's campaign and his repeated calls for a debate. When asked recently whether she planned to debate any of her opponents this year, she said only: "We'll just see how the campaign develops."

Tasini acknowledged the odds are against him. But he also said he believes there is more at stake than just the primary.

"This is about building a long-term movement to change the Democratic Party," Tasini said. "I know these things take a long time."