Hillary faces obstacle to White House run

Hillary Clinton is in the political cross-hairs again as Republican leaders in New York mount an impassioned nationwide appeal to thwart her re-election to the US Senate next year, claiming she will use it as a stepping stone to the White House.

Hillary Clinton is in the political cross-hairs again as Republican leaders in New York mount an impassioned nationwide appeal to thwart her re-election to the US Senate next year, claiming she will use it as a stepping stone to the White House.

Fund-raising letters were on their way yesterday to prominent Republican supporters from the chairman of the New York Republican party, Stephen Minarik, asking them to join a "Stop Hillary Now" campaign.

It coincides with reports of a new book about her years in the White House and as a US senator that threatens to inflict serious political damage on her presidential prospects.

The book, The Truth about Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President, is due out in September. It is said to dig into the travails of Mrs Clinton during the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky and her husband, Bill, then president, and the legal assaults on him during his tenure in the White House.

Polls suggest Mrs Clinton is in a strong position to win a second term in the US Senate, with no sign that the Republicans have found a credible candidate to oppose her. Moreover, she has gained a reputation over recent months for taking centrist stances on issues ranging from Iraq to abortion.

But the fund-raising letter describes Mrs Clinton as either a "radical liberal" or an "ultra-liberal" no fewer than six times in four pages. Mr Minarik contends she is "the darling of the wealthy liberal left - especially the Hollywood left", and as having "a vast network of far-left contributors".

But survey after survey recently has shown that Mrs Clinton, though remaining a highly polarising figure, would score far better than any of her Democrat peers in a run for the nomination in 2008. And few observers doubt she has her eyes on succeeding President George Bush. Mr Clinton publicly suggested this year that his wife would make a good Commander-in-Chief.

Hence the tone of urgency in the fund-raising appeal. "This is not merely a race for New York," the missive warned. "It's a race for America." It goes on: "Stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most important thing you and I can do as Republicans in the next two years. You could say it is our duty as Republicans."

Mr Minarik accused Senator Clinton of taking a path to the Oval Office that was "paved with her lies and distortion," and promised a "truth squad" that would "monitor Hillary's appearances and expose her lies".

The aggressiveness of the letter came as no surprise to the Senator's office. "The Republican Party has chosen to wage a personally negative campaign," noted her spokeswoman, Ann Lewis. "They don't want to talk about Hillary's record of working for New Yorkers, through the state in the Senate." Last month, Senator Clinton sent an e-mail to her supporters, warning that she had become "the No 1 target for the right-wing attack machine".

It is unclear how seriously the senator is taking warnings about the forthcoming book about her past, written by a former Vanity Fair contributor, Ed Klein, and being published by Penguin in the US.

But a source told the Drudge Report at the weekend that the work contained revelations that "should sink her candidacy". The website also quoted lines from what it said would be the sales pitch for the book. Penguin offered no comment last night.

"Just as the Swift Boat veterans convinced ... voters that John Kerry lacked the character to be president, Klein's book will influence everyone who is sizing up the character of Hillary Clinton," it reportedly says.