It was a landslide victory for Hilary in 2000 - it was 55% to 42%. That is pretty amazing considering the fact that she isn't even from New York nor did she live there for a substantial amount of time. Remember when Gulliani was taking the first lady on, he was not the most popular character. His approval ratings in the city were low and he was in the middle of a very public divorce. Right before his withdrawal, Hilary was leading by 5 points in most of the major polls. Had Gulliani continued in that race, he would not have a chance of winning statewide.
Granted, Lazio does deserve a good part of the blame for his lose. Instead of focusing on the issues, he decided that the only issue that affected the race was that he was from New York and she was a carpetbagger. You know, that only gets one so much in an election. That needed to be used as a secondary issue rather than a major one. Lazio also faced defections from the right due to his pro-choice voting record. Hilary, however, focused on the Senate race since 1998 and she traveled to each part of the state. She carried metro New York through her super-majorities with blacks, Jews, and other minorities. She also carried a substantial part of the upstate white vote. (You see even though conservatives hate her "extremism," Hilary is able to carry moderate voters. ) You know as long as the conservatives continue to believe that Hilary is not a credible politician and that she is not liked by anyone, she will only continue to get more liked.