Just an hour after Hillary Rodham Clinton wished Mayor Giuliani well and refused to talk politics, one of the first lady’s top advisers ripped into Rep. Rick Lazio, her likely Republican opponent.
“There’s a lot that’s unknown about Rick Lazio, but there are a lot of important things that are known about him – including an eight-year voting record that is out-of-step with a broad cross-section of New Yorkers,” said Harold Ickes, a longtime Clinton aide.
In the first public comments made by a Clinton aide about Lazio, Ickes gave a sneak preview of what the first lady’s strategy will be against the Long Island congressman, who said yesterday he’s seeking the GOP nomination.
“Lazio voted to eliminate the Department of Education and supported [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America. He voted against the deficit-reduction plan that the president proposed in 1993, which most people say helped bring about the economic revival that we are now enjoying,” Ickes said.
“All too often, Rick Lazio was voting against the interests of the people of New York and doing the work of Newt Gingrich and [House Majority Leader] Dick Armey and the rest of the radical Republican leadership,” Ickes said.
A Lazio spokesman did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Ickes’ stinging remarks stood in stark contrast to Clinton’s tone during a brief press conference she held following the mayor’s bombshell announcement.
Hastily arranging the event at the union headquarters of Local 1199 in Midtown, Clinton aides took pains to keep the press conference from appearing like a campaign rally, even asking a friendly crowd of health-care workers to leave the room.
Keeping her face expressionless, Clinton told reporters she called the mayor moments after his stunning City Hall press conference.
“I certainly hope and pray – as I know all New Yorkers do – that he will have a full and speedy recovery,” she said.
In her five minutes of remarks, Clinton ducked political questions about Lazio and Giuliani.
“There’ll be plenty of time to talk about the issues, and compare and contrast positions between me and anyone in the race. I think today we all ought to just wish the mayor our very best,” she said.
Clinton’s day began at the Bridge Street Church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where she met with black ministers and received the endorsement of the Rev. Floyd Flake, a former Giuliani ally.
In the middle of a press conference at the church, a New York 1 reporter learned that her station was reporting that Giuliani was dropping out and delivered the big news to the first lady.
Clearly surprised, Clinton paused for a moment before saying: “I will wait until we know for sure.”
But by the end of church services, Clinton aides were scrambling to prepare the first lady’s press conference.
After canceling a Washington fund-raiser, the first lady huddled with four aides in the Local 1199 building on West 43rd Street to watch the mayor’s televised announcement.
“You can’t watch that and not be moved by what you say,” said Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s spokesman.
Wolfson insisted it’s business as usual for the first lady, noting she’ll be campaigning in Westchester today.