John Spencer's lesbian avoidance plan of '06

Hillary Clinton's political opponent gets even stupider.

Published October 24, 2006 3:49PM (EDT)

You didn't think it was possible, but Hillary Clinton's opponent in the New York Senate race, John Spencer, managed to dig himself into an even deeper hole with sentient voters, just a day after reports that he had referred to the former first lady as unattractive and wondered why her husband had ever married her.

Today comes news, as reported by Maggie Haberman in the New York Post, that while Spencer was discussing his strategy for his debates with Clinton, he airily told a reporter: "As long as I don't call her a lesbian, I'm OK."

Hey, way to go, super-genius! Spencer's spokesman didn't even bother to deny that Spencer made the lesbian remark, instead telling the Post, "If he offended anyone, he apologizes for it."

Man, if they awarded Darwin Awards for the demise of political careers, Spencer and Jeanine Pirro would be in close contention for the top prize.


By Rebecca Traister

Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. She is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women" (Free Press). Follow @rtraister on Twitter.

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