Livin' La Vida Lazio
Just days after jumping into the New York Senate race, Long Island GOP Congressman Rick Lazio finds himself under attack for his position on abortion.
Lazio says he's pro-abortion rights but continues to oppose Medicaid funding to pay for poor women's abortions. The GOP U.S. Senate hopeful also favors a ban on the late-term abortion procedure that critics call "partial-birth abortion."
"I am what I am. I'm not going to hide anything here," Lazio said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I have had a record that supports a woman's right to choose. I do not want to criminalize abortion."
"On the other hand, I want to make it rarer and I don't think just because we have a right that we need to subsidize that right," he added. "I'm absolutely comfortable with that position. I think that's where the majority of New Yorkers are."
Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign was quick to pounce on Lazio's remarks.
"New Yorkers will learn that Rick Lazio isn't really pro-choice. He is multiple choice and never met an abortion restriction he didn't like or vote for," said Howard Wolfson, the first lady's campaign spokesman. "Women in New York will learn that they can't really trust him to protect the right to choose." Clinton supports Medicaid funding for abortion and opposes banning the late-term abortion procedure.
When Lazio was reminded that New York GOP Gov. George Pataki, his main political booster, has continued state Medicaid funding for poor women's abortions despite the cutoff of federal funds, the congressman said: "Just like a lot of different rights that we don't subsidize, I think it falls into that category. I just think my record speaks for itself. I'm very comfortable with it. People will make a judgment based on it."
Lazio also told the AP that "there're a lot of people who, I guess, would like to make this race nothing but about that issue, but I have a record, which is different than my opponent. It is a record of experience and getting things done."
"They can't say I haven't built bridges and achieved solutions," he said. "The other side will pick what they can to try and be divisive. I'm not going to be divisive. I'm going to build unity and bring people together. That's what New Yorkers are looking for."
Since Lazio entered the Senate race over the weekend, he's been campaigning at full steam with a whirlwind tour of upstate New York. On Monday, he nabbed a key endorsement that will likely reverberate on his abortion debate with Clinton. Mike Long, the head of New York's Conservative Party, threw his support behind Lazio.
"I think his chances are really excellent," Long said of Lazio.
The Conservative Party is one of the Empire State's minor but influential parties. No Republican has won statewide office in New York without the Conservative Party nod since 1974. Long was at odds with GOP Sente hopeful Rudy Giuliani before the New York City mayor quit the race on Friday.
For one thing, Giuliani refused to oppose a ban on the late-term abortion procedure. Also, the mayor had been seeking an endorsement from the Liberal Party - another minor party that usually endorses Democrats, but is run by Giuliani ally Ray Harding. No Democrat in New York has been elected governor or U.S. senator without Liberal Party support since the party's founding in 1944.
With Giuliani out of the campaign, Harding said Monday he was "100 percent" behind Clinton's Senate bid.
"I have no doubt she will emerge as the candidate of the Liberal Party," Harding said.
Long's backing of Lazio came after former U.S. Rep. Joseph DioGuardi told him he would not continue his quest for the Conservative Party's Senate nomination. DioGuardi had entered the fray because of his policy disagreements with Giuliani.