Nixon son-in-law weighs run against Clinton
It would be Edward Cox's first attempt at elected office
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Edward Cox, the 58-year-old son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon, is "seriously considering running" against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in her re-election bid next year, according to an adviser.
Cox, a lawyer, is forming an exploratory committee and plans to file papers with the Federal Election Commission within a week, said Lynn Mueller, president of Decision Strategies, an Albany-based strategic planning and communications consulting firm and a Cox friend for 20 years.
"We are in the process of forming an exploratory committee, Friends of Ed Cox, to allow him to raise money, to meet people and talk to people about the potential candidacy against Hillary Clinton," Mueller told CNN.
"If all goes well, I think the commitment to run will follow," Mueller said. "I think he will be an excellent candidate."
The race would be Cox's first run for public office.
His name has been circulating as a potential candidate for weeks as the state Republican Committee and the White House have been trying to recruit a credible candidate.
"[Clinton] was a first-time candidate the last time she ran," Mueller said. But, he said, "anybody that takes on an incumbent senator is an underdog in any state in the union."
Clinton, a Democrat and the wife of former President Bill Clinton, spent more than $30 million on her 2000 campaign, winning with 55 percent of the vote.
Her opponent, U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio, spent $40 million after replacing then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate. Giuliani dropped out after being diagnosed for prostate cancer.
Giuliani has indicated he would not be interested in the 2006 contest.
Cox, director of the Foreign Policy Association, may be boosted by a number of political action groups that have emerged to "stop Hillary" from using her re-election as a springboard to a potential 2008 presidential run.
Cox married Tricia Nixon, whom he met at a high school dance, in a 1971 White House wedding. The couple lives on Long Island.
Cox traveled extensively with Nixon during his presidency and afterward. They visiting many countries together, including China, Russia and Israel. Nixon died in New York in 1994.
His only government experience was serving as general counsel to Synfuels Corporation, an alternative energy effort, during the Reagan administration.
He is a military veteran, belonging to the ROTC at Princeton and later serving in the Army Reserve.
Cox was a founding director in the 1980s of Student/Sponsored Partners, which provides mentoring for at-risk public school students and tuition for some to transfer to parochial schools. The program has reached 1,300 New York students.
He has been a trustee at the State University of New York since 1995 and is chairman of the New York State Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
He also is chairman of the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.
"He's smart. He's been a New Yorker all his life," Mueller said.
Cox declined to be interviewed about his potential candidacy.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, he now works at the Manhattan-based law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.
Mrs. Clinton, after finishing Yale Law School, where she met her future husband, served as a staff attorney for the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach President Nixon in 1974 over the Watergate scandal.
