In Case She Wants Some Free Advice...

GERALDINE FERRARO, former Congresswoman

As a Democrat, I would love it if Hillary were to run. Not only is she right on the issues, but if she runs, she wins--and generates such a large turnout that she helps Democrats in every race. And, yes, I would love to see a woman representing New York in the U.S. Senate! But should she? Is it in her best interest to take on a campaign at this time?

I have run for the Senate twice in New York--unsuccessfully, alas--and I can tell you that it is no walk in the park. The tabloids try to eat you alive every day. Much worse, they go after your family. The media and Hillary's Republican opponent would surely attack her as a carpetbagger, revisit her commodities investments and Whitewater representation, distort her views on a Palestinian state and serve up snide analyses of her marriage. But I think she can successfully rebut them all. We have elected two men from out of state--a Connecticut Republican, James Buckley, and a Massachusetts Democrat, Bobby Kennedy--to represent us in the Senate. Hillary has spent more time in New York over the past seven years than either of them did in the years just before they ran. Mile for mile, event for event, cause for cause, she can't be equaled.

So why should she even consider saying no? The polls, the wooing, the potential of the Senate as a springboard for national office--all are highly seductive. But there are other things to be considered. Hillary is now in the second most powerful position in the country. Can you imagine giving that up to be a junior member of the minority in the Senate? And she would have to give it up. The people of this state would expect her to focus on the issues of concern to New York. They'd want to see her in every county, and they would want to hear her views on health care, education and Social Security reform but also the cost of air fares upstate, PCBs in the Hudson River, the aquifers in Nassau County and on and on. And though she wouldn't have to live in New York, she'd have to run a campaign in New York, which might be tough to do from the White House. Federal election rules are very specific about what a campaign can and cannot do. I believe she'd be stepping into a quagmire trying to sort out what expenses could be paid by the taxpayer, because they were incurred in her role as First Lady, and what expenses would be paid by her campaign. The right wing would deluge the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department with complaints in an effort to derail her.

Does she need this? I don't think so. She's young and can wait four years to have her Senate seat. In 2004, Republican Peter Fitzgerald will be up for re-election in Illinois, a state that really is Hillary's home. By then, her book will have been written, her husband will be settled into a new job, Chelsea will be an adult, and the Senate will have a Democratic majority. Forget us politicos, Hillary. Do what's best for you.

ED KOCH, former New York City mayor

Rudy Giuliani will run the vilest possible campaign. He has no scruples, and he'll do anything to win. Nevertheless, Hillary has a spine made of steel and will overcome it. There'll be no surprises for her in terms of the garbage that will be hurled at her by Giuliani and his supporters. She'll beat Rudy Giuliani.

JIMMY BRESLIN, columnist