Clinton accepts party's re-election nod

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 1, 2006

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, talks with Trudy Mason, a New York State Democratic Committee member, after a breakfast speaking engagement at the Convention Center in Buffalo. (AP Photo / May 31, 2006)

BUFFALO - With her husband sitting a few feet away, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted her party's unanimous re-election endorsement - even as state Democrats denounced the "error" of invading Iraq, an action Clinton strongly supported and still staunchly defends.

Clinton delivered a nationally focused speech that could have easily been given on the presidential trail, attacking the GOP on Hurricane Katrina, rising gas prices, the lack of affordable health care and its failure to hike the minimum wage.

"We all need to stand up and demand new leadership that will once again put our country back on the right track. ... We need a fundamentally different direction," Clinton told an enthusiastic audience whose fervor seemed to flag as her speech shuffled past 30 minutes.

The crowd erupted when she introduced Bill Clinton, who had been sitting in the front row, praising him as "an inspiration, a mentor, a partner."

After the event, Bill Clinton seemed to suggest his wife might serve out a full term if re-elected, describing her message yesterday as, "If you give me six more years, this is what I'll work on," according to a Syracuse Post-Standard transcript.

Meanwhile, Republicans meeting at Hofstra University failed to unite behind a single candidate to challenge Clinton.

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who said an aide to Elizabeth Dole warned him Friday that the national party may not be able to fund a primary race, could not shift enough of former Reagan aide KT McFarland's support to former Yonkers mayor John Spencer.

"I like KT, but we've got to get down to pragmatics," he told reporters.

While Spencer, with 63.5 percent of delegates' votes, won the endorsement, McFarland earned more than enough support to force a primary, which Spencer said was not in the party's best interests.

At the Democrats' convention, overwhelming opposition to the war was a subtext. But Clinton addressed Iraq only once, echoing Senate Democrats' recent calls for Iraqis to speed up development of internal security forces.

Backstage, Clinton's aides and consultants frantically beat back anti-war candidate Jonathan Tasini's attempt to get the 10 delegate signatures needed to place his name on the ballot. His victory would have forced an embarrassing three-hour roll call vote and tarnished a day that was intended to be a seamless coronation for Clinton.

Tasini eventually dropped his bid after delegates including Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) introduced a resolution denouncing the "error of going to war illegally."

Clinton, whose support of the Bush administration war resolution prompted a backlash among antiwar groups, had no comment on the resolution, which passed in a voice vote after most delegates had already left.

"This wasn't about embarrassing her," said Tasini, who is circulating petitions to get on the primary ballot. It's about having a debate on the war."

Apart from condemning the invasion, the resolution echoed Clinton's recent statements on Iraq, calling for the "safe and orderly" withdrawal of U.S. troops once the country is stabilized.

Clinton seemed energized by the adulation. After watching the screening of a campaign film, she joked, "I was ... struck as I watched the film that I had the same hairdo for the longest period of my life."

Staff writer Melanie Lefkowitz on Long Island contributed to this story.