A Rough Ride For Rudy

I thought it would at least last out the week. That refreshing vacuum in my e-mail box, not known since last summer. Back then Hillary was just "listening," and Rudy was just being the mayor. But since then, as the tenor of the New York campaign increased in volume and venom, my screen was constantly filled with attacks and tirades, posturing and position papers. The bloody battles of Hillary2000.org versus RudyYes.com advanced and retreated by way of my mailbox, as vigilant press deputies waged a relentless struggle to gain the upper hand.

And then there was silence.

Mayor Giuliani's announcement that he has prostate cancer brought a sudden and welcome halt to all the e-mail bombast. The only campaign material to cross my screen on Monday and Tuesday were blips on scheduling and innocuous notices of personnel postings. The Hillary2000 camp certainly understood it would be graceless to kick a man when he's down, and with the mayor weighing his medical and political options, his partisans were also in no mood to attack.

But the blissful interlude was too good to last. Leave it to Pat Buchanan to get the pot boiling again. By mid-week, as the mayor hosted his own town meeting and Hillary checked the very last New York county off her dance card, the question of courting the state's Independence Party sparked a resurgence in the e-mail wars. Which candidate would be willing to sell his or her soul to a Buchanan-for-President party in return for those few Independent voters? Not our leader, they both said, with a little bashing in between.

Then came the ad wars. Hillary launched her first official television spot, aptly titled, First. In 30 seconds, we learn that the first lady did plenty of other things first, and we should think of those first before we make our first choice. In response, Rudy's campaign manager told the New York Times: "It's the latest attempt to reinvent Mrs. Clinton, but it's not real and it won't work because New Yorkers appreciate authenticity and the fact is that Mrs. Clinton doesn't have a record."

Rudy, however, does. That's why his new ad, released on the same day as hers, claims: "You're going to be able to figure out what I'm going to do from what I've done. And you're going to figure out the things that I'm not going to do ... from the things I refuse to do."

One thing the mayor is refusing to do this week is elaborate on a relationship with an Upper East Side divorcee, whom he allegedly met at a private school reception. Judith Nathan may not be as well known a name in New York as that Monica girl was in Washington, but we surely have not heard the last of her. While Rudy's on-again, off-again wife postponed her theatrical appearance in the Vagina Monologues in deference to her husband's medical needs, Rudy was busy breaking bread wih what he calls, "a good friend, no wait, "a very good friend."

It's not exactly news that the mayor and his wife, Donna Hanover, don't appear in public together. It's not exactly news that the mayor no longer sports a wedding band. But if three's a crowd in a marriage, it's a disaster in a political race.

So far, the Clinton campaign hasn't touched this one. She's sticking to politics, at least for now.

But then Hillary knows all too well from her own experience that she doesn't need to exploit the "other woman" gossip. There are plenty of others who will do that for her.

And now that the all-too-brief respite is over and the two campaigns are duking it out again, it seems only appropriate that the Hillary2000.org should be hit with the "I Love You" virus. In turn, every reporter on its group mailing list got the bug too. After this strange week, in this strange race, take heart ... there is no love lost.