Opponent denies knocking Clinton's looks
"You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew," New York Daily News political reporter Ben Smith quoted John Spencer as saying Friday en route to a debate with Clinton in Rochester.
"I don't know why Bill married her," he was reported as saying, referring to former President Bill Clinton.
The Daily News also reported that Spencer, 59, the former mayor of Yonkers, a New York City suburb, said Clinton had undergone "millions of dollars of work -- plastic surgery" to help improve her appearance. "She looks good now," Smith quoted Spencer as saying.
Polling shows that Clinton, 58, has a commanding lead in the race and is expected to easily win re-election in November.
Rob Ryan, Spencer's spokesman, denied Smith's account, but acknowledged a conversation took place on the flight from New York to Rochester.
"The comment that he said was something to the effect of, 'If you have ever seen a picture of Hillary Clinton from college,' I think he said, 'Whew, she changed,' " Ryan said in an interview with CNN.
"Which is obvious if you look at the picture of her. That is what he said. He never said anything about her having plastic surgery."
Smith told CNN he stands by his story. And the Daily News reporter posted a response to Spencer's denial on his blog that he writes for the newspaper.
Ryan also took exception with the Daily News' headline, "Getting Ugly," which appeared on the cover of the New York City tabloid.
"He never used the word 'ugly,' " Ryan said. "That is the Daily News' word. It is never in quotes."
Spencer was quoted by The Associated Press as saying the comments were "a fabrication. I would never call Hillary Clinton ugly. That's outrageous. I didn't do it."
Howard Wolfson, a Clinton political adviser, said the story shows that Spencer "is unfit for the U.S. Senate."
"I'm not sure what's worse: that Mr. Spencer made these insulting comments or that, instead of owning up and apologizing for them, he is lying about them," Wolfson said in a written statement to CNN. "Either way, it's clear that he is unfit for the U.S. Senate."
Wolfson also denied that the senator has ever had plastic surgery.
During a campaign stop outside Albany, New York, Clinton told the AP, "It's unfortunate that when you don't have anything positive to say about the issues that we can get off in some pretty swampy territory."
The Daily News story was accompanied by a photograph of Clinton as a teenager, and the senator later joked with reporters, saying, "My high school picture was cute."
The story came a day after Spencer said during a second debate Sunday that Clinton would make a "tremendous" presidential candidate.
His comments were made as he sought to show Clinton is considering a presidential run in 2008.
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.read1stnews.com
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