Clinton Says New York, but Money Hints at '08

New York Times ^ | 03/08/2006 | Raymond Hernandez

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

WASHINGTON, March 7 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is locking up some of the Democratic Party's top fund-raisers, in a move that party officials and strategists say seems intended to complicate the efforts of any potential rivals in the 2008 presidential contest.

While Mrs. Clinton and her advisers insist that her only focus is winning re-election to a second term in the United States Senate in November, Democrats say that her finance team has undertaken a vigorous push to round up leading fund-raisers around the country, an effort that was underscored by a recent dinner in Washington at which former President Bill Clinton made an appearance and laid out his vision to the party's big money people.

The effort comes as Mrs. Clinton has embarked on a nationwide fund-raising spree herself, enabling her to collect cash while appearing before audiences outside New York. Democrats say her goal is to raise at least $40 million for her Senate race, money that could be used for a national run after this year's Senate re-election bid, for which she faces minor opposition.

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