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 -    WORLD  

It's sex, drugs, rock'n'roll but no politics

By MARK RILEY, Herald Correspondent, in New York

The New York Senate race was destined to be about sex from the moment the name Clinton was raised as a possible candidate.

One day after Hillary Clinton's official campaign launch this week, it became about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll.

Now, before the first week of the race is over, it is about sex, drugs, rock'n'roll ... and religion.

"Bud haaaaaay! This is Noo Yawk!" Mrs Clinton reminded her followers at the launch in a mangled attempt at a New York accent.

The sex part is obvious on two levels. Mrs Clinton was always going to carry the humiliation of her husband's philandering into the race. But she is taking on a man, the Mayor of New York City, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, in the patriarchal world of politics. A woman's place is not quite barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen in 21st-century America, but it is not considered to be in parliament either.

Drugs and rock'n'roll entered the scene when Mr Giuliani seized on the playing of the old Billy Joel song Captain Jack in the prelude to the Clinton campaign launch.

The chorus of the song goes: "Captain Jack will get you high tonight/ And take you to your special island/ Captain Jack will get you by tonight/ Just a little push and you'll be smilin'."

Mr Giuliani said the obvious references to drug use had promoted the wrong values to the children and students attending the launch in the State University of New York campus.

"The message that got out by mistake was: 'Let's say yes to drugs'," claimed Mr Giuliani, a past master at gilding the populist lily.

Mrs Clinton was forced to agree the song was inappropriate, but pointed out that the entire Billy Joel album, Piano Man, had been played by the university's sound man simply to fill in time before the proceedings began.

She then went on to hum her campaign mantra, that she would fight on the issues and not get involved in negative campaigning.

But even the rusted-on Democrat loyalist and President Bill Clinton's former chief electoral strategist, Mr James Carville, had to concede that standing solely on the issues is not a great idea.

"Everyone has to get down and get dirty at some point - it's part of the tradition," said the balding Mr Carville, known in political circles as Captain Cueball.

But then came religion. Perhaps Mrs Clinton had heeded Mr Carville's advice, because by week's end she was attacking Mr Giuliani for distributing a fund-raising letter in which he criticised her for "hostility towards America's religious traditions".

The Giuliani letter had to do with Mrs Clinton's support for the Sensation art exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum last year, which included, among other questionable artworks, a piece by Chris Offili in which the Madonna is depicted in a mixed medium supported by dollops of cow dung.

This support, said the Catholic Mr Giuliani, showed the Methodist Mrs Clinton's part in the "relentless 30-year war the left-wing elite has waged against America's religious traditions".

Mrs Clinton said she was not attacking Mr Giuliani over religion but attacking him for attacking her over religion. Apparently, there is a difference - particularly if you profess to fight campaigns "on the issues".

So, with sex and drugs and rock'n'roll and religion out of the way, all this campaign needs now is a bit of politics.


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