John Spencer is no fan of Hillary Clinton. Indeed, one might argue that he is no fan of democracy or fidelity or civility. In the event that you have never heard of Mr. Spencer or are under the misapprehension that I am speaking of the recently deceased actor (who played chief of staff, Leo McGarry, on The West Wing), allow me to make introductions. John Spencer is the former mayor of Yonkers, NY and current Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. He aims to unseat Hillary Clinton, who is up for reelection this year. Earlier this week, in a speech to his fellow conservatives, Spencer took the incumbent senator to task for having had the temerity to criticize the Bush Administration on such issues as the war in Iraq and the NSA domestic surveillance program, as reported in Newsday:

Spencer said that while there was a way to properly criticize the conduct of a war—he cited Republican Sen. John McCain—“You shouldn’t do it with such divisive and blame-America-first methodology, and that’s what she does, which aids and abets our enemies.� Lumping Clinton with Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, Spencer added, “They seem to salivate at what they hope would be bad news for the Bush administration, and that’s divisive for our nation.�

Meanwhile, the Spencer campaign unveiled a video advertisement that is running on its Web site. The ad attacks Clinton for her criticism of the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic surveillance program. “I’m running for Senate because I won’t play politics with our security,� Spencer says in the ad.

Gee, it’s nice to know that he’s not going to “play politics� or be “divisive.� It’s also nice to know that he’s such a big fan of free speech. (Yes, my tongue drippeth over with sarcasm.) I find it galling that Spencer and others of his ilk are quick to accuse any who dare to speak out against their policies of being unpatriotic or “aiding and abetting� the enemy—a serious accusation—and then proceed to wrap the flag around themselves, which is an insult to every parent that has had to face the flag-draped coffin of their child who ostensibly died defending the very liberties that Mr. Spencer would somehow deny us. What makes him so high and mighty?

The Journal News, a newspaper that covers the Lower Hudson Valley region of New York, recently published an enlightening profile of John Spencer. A few choice excerpts follow:

• Spencer’s freewheeling manner has offended some, as when he referred to construction-company owners as “backroom goombahs,â€? and said that then-Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro didn’t stand a “Chinaman’s chanceâ€? of Conservative Party backing for her failed Senate bid. On his campaign Web site, he opposes “special rightsâ€? for gays, which he said referred to gay marriage, civil unions and “that slippery slope of … asking government to accentuate or broaden that which they have, and normal people don’t have.â€? Asked if that meant he thought gays weren’t “normal,” he took it back.
• His campaign is founded on what he describes as bedrock Republican conservatism, honed in Yonkers politics. Spencer is pro-business and anti-tax. He rejects gun control, opposes abortion and got the endorsement of the Minuteman Project, a group opposed to illegal immigration that patrols the country’s Mexican border. Spencer supports the war in Iraq and isn’t troubled by revelations that the government conducted warrantless eavesdropping on conversations linked to terror suspects. In fact, he wants to see prosecutions of those who revealed the eavesdropping. “What’s the difference between a whistle-blower and a traitor?â€? he asked. “If people are leaking confidential information that needs to be confidential to protect people … I think that’s traitorous, and they should be held accountable.â€?
• [As mayor], Spencer’s hard-driving personality put off many, and his titanic, obscenity-laced tirades against opponents and perceived adversaries remain legendary. Critics also contend that his zeal to spur economic development through the use of city-created private corporations and other means—which Spencer has called “creative methods�—may have skirted the law.
• For most of his mayoralty, rumors swirled that Spencer was having an affair with his unmarried chief of staff, Kathy Spring, who bore two children during that time. For years, Spencer refused to discuss the relationship or address the possibility of a conflict of interest involving Spring, a City Hall staff member who saw her annual salary increase to $138,000 from $52,000 working for Spencer. In 2002…Spencer publicly acknowledged that he had fathered Spring’s children….He said his infidelity was “ironically� in the public interest. “I didn’t have to make an appointment with my chief of staff to go over everything. That’s all we did.�

All I can add is that John Spencer should fit in quite nicely with his Republican colleagues. And he’s no Leo McGarry.