The Times says Jeanine was poised during the pause. The Village Voice says the pause lasted minutes.
She stressed her 30-year career in office, and her moderate views. She laid out her positions on controversial issues ("I support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent. But I also support the right of a woman to choose. . . . I believe in immigration. . . . But I also believe in the Patriot Act.") Building momentum, she took aim at her opponent, someone who "has shortchanged New York" and who "hasn't delivered."
"But I am not Hillary Clinton," Pirro declared, pausing for effect. She segued flawlessly from the type of security she's fought for at home to the types she'll fight for on Capitol Hill - not just national security, but Social Security, medical security, economic security. "You will know where I stand on the issues," Pirro trumpeted, staring at a fixed spot in the back of the room.
"Hillary Clinton," she continued, and looked down at her notes. She then paused, mid-sentence, and said nothing. She shuffled through her notes, as seconds passed. Then minutes. Reporters shifted in their seats. Photographers flashed their cameras. Then, in a muffled voice, Pirro asked her staffers, "Do you have page 10?"
Welcome, Ms. Pirro, to prime time.
The Times says Jeanine was far less sure-footed in the q and a session that followed the speech.
But while Ms. Pirro kept her cool before reporters, she also seemed unprepared for some questions. There was nary a word from Ms. Pirro, at least voluntarily, about her husband, who looms like a specter over the campaign, and she sidestepped some questions about his role in her political future.
Mr. Pirro fathered a child with another woman in the 1990's, and in 2000 he was convicted of income tax fraud and spent 11 months in prison. Ms. Pirro had signed some of the tax returns in questions, but she never faced any charges in his case. This year, a reputed mobster said he had been given confidential information about one of Ms. Pirro's cases from Mr. Pirro, who has denied the allegation.
At the news conference this morning, Ms. Pirro ignored a question about whether she would take money from her husband, who is also a prominent Republican donor, or allow him to raise money for her. Some political candidates rebuff donors with criminal records. Instead, she repeated earlier comments that only her name, and not Mr. Pirro's, would be on the ballot, and that she only had to make the case for herself, and not him, to voters.
Other q and a stumpers: The federal deficit, Iraq troop withdrawal, abortion.
Jeanine is media-ready. She doesn't seem issue-ready yet. It's a pretty big leap from suburban District Attorney to U.S. Senator. It looks like she's going to find that out the hard way.
