4.27.00
Senator Hillary?

4.26.00
Potemra v. Lopez: It's Pro Life Research

4.26.00
Potemra v. Lopez: Why Both Reeve and Potemra Are Wrong

4.25.00
A Turning Point On Abortion

4.24.00
The Gospel According to Planned Parenthood

4.24.00
The Goon with the Gun

4.22.00
This Is America?

4.22.00
Elián Raid: Simply Un-American

4.20.00
Elián Meets Dan and Oprah

4.18.00
Rocker's Return

he doomsayers are out in force after Rudy Giuliani's disclosure this morning that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. This is truly dreadful news, but conservatives shouldn't be rushing to pronounce Hillary Clinton the next senator from New York. Here are two points for cooler heads to consider:

1) The assumption should still be that Giuliani will be the Republican candidate in the fall. Many men are able to continue with their careers after prostate cancer, a disease that a large proportion of men will get if they live long enough. Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, for instance, was briefly and successfully treated for the disease earlier this year. (For that matter, Joe Torre managed the Yankees to another championship season last year after being treated for prostate cancer.) So don't count Rudy out yet. It seems crass to say, but such is the state of our politics that Giuliani may actually have a better, softer image after grappling with the illness.

2) If Giuliani has to drop out, it isn't necessarily good news for Hillary. In a close race, Giuliani has a huge liability, which is that he won't have the right-to-life and conservative lines on the ballot in the fall. Those 400,000 or so votes could well be decisive. Hillary Clinton may not be able to get to 50 percent in New York, but against Giuliani she might not have to. In contrast, Rep. Rick Lazio, who had already been toying with the idea of running against Giuliani, would get the conservative line. Dark-horse possibility Rep. Peter King would also get both the right-to-life and conservative lines, but at the same time he would be impossible to tag as a "right-wing extremist" because of his apostasy on impeachment and his support for John McCain. So, it is just not true that Giuliani is the only Republican who can beat Hillary — he may even, in some respects, be the weakest candidate.

But enough ghoulish speculation — here's wishing Mayor Giuliani a full and fast recovery.

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