Intelligencer

The Man Behind Jeanine Pirro

He thinks she’s “the protoypical model for a successful statewide Republican.”

By Greg Sargent (Email)
Published Aug 14, 2005

(Photo: Eliot Shepard)

Despite that lost speech page at her Waldorf press conference, the Pirro campaign is off! Meet her brand manager, Kieran Mahoney, the former Pataki packager who previously ran her successful campaigns for Westchester D.A. Greg Sargent spoke with him.

Pirro says Hillary Clinton treats her job as a stepping-stone to the White House. But isn’t her own run a means toward greater fame—or a Fox News gig?
If she wanted a career in broadcast journalism, she could have it today. Pirro’s running to win.

Many think the part-time-senator attack line won’t be enough.
Those people have never won a New York statewide election. I’ve won many. Plus, we’ve also said Pirro has a record of fighting for the underprivileged and will be part of the Senate’s vital center.

But the suburbs are trending Democratic and upstate’s losing population.
Democrats like to say demographics favor them. But the real growth is among moderates and independents—people who like what Republicans have done fiscally and on terror and what Democrats have done on health and the environment. Pirro will have great appeal for them.

Isn’t this really about bloodying up Hillary for 2008?
We’re not gonna bloody her up. Republicans who want us to throw mud at her will be disappointed. We won’t engage in negative attacks.

Promise?
Jeanine already has.

Will anti-Hillaryite Arthur Finkelstein be part of this campaign?
No.

How long can you keep her tax-fraud-convicted husband Al Pirro in an undisclosed location?
We’re gonna talk about Jeanine Pirro.

So, does she file a separate tax return?
I’m not her accountant. But as a matter of fact, she does.