Albert Pirro supports a child born outside of his marriage, and for 11 months he was the guest of the U.S. government for evading federal income taxes. His associates are less than savory. (So, too, some of his wife's; she has been accused of taking money that smells like mafia.) She was elected to her third term as district attorney in spite of all that. Nevertheless, like the former first lady, she stood by her man, if with considerably less fervor.
The tabloids would relish turning a wonkish and dull re-election campaign into something vastly entertaining. "You know how the papers are going to love this, two harridans mixing it up," Fred Siegel, a history professor at Cooper Union in New York, tells the New York Observer. "This could be the equivalent of mud wrestling for fraternity boys."
This would be the bout of the million-dollar babies. Hillary haters across the country would write checks for Jeanine Pirro just to make life miserable for Hillary, and Republicans everywhere would see the race as an opportunity to rough up the prospective Democratic presidential nominee for '08. Democratic money earmarked for other contentious races would have to be diverted to New York.
But a tough race could be an asset for Hillary Clinton. She's had more reincarnations than Shirley MacLaine and she's still standing, proof that it takes more than a village to subdue the Clintons. The No. 1 Pirro issue would be her promise, easily taken at full value, that she would be a full-time senator and would serve a full term. She will need a lot more than that. The New York Post, which for years gleefully stereotyped Hillary as a callous carpetbagger, has all but embraced her now, making great fun of Ms. Pirro's debut as a Senate candidate when she lost a page of her speech. The Post relishes the soap-opera details of her husband's 22-year-old "love child."
Since 1974 no Republican candidate has won a statewide race without the support of New York's Conservative Party. If Jeanine Pirro is the nominee, conservatives will have to decide whether they want a senator who's somewhat more liberal than they are or an incumbent who's a lot more liberal than they are.
A dark horse Ms. Pirro certainly is, but so was Giacomo, the 50-1 long shot who won the Kentucky Derby earlier this year. Handicapping politicians is a little like handicapping horses, and surprises can happen in the homestretch. But first the horses have to get out of the gate.