Posted on 07/16/2006 8:49:56 PM PDT by kristinn
WASHINGTON -- As if celebrity name recognition and superstar political status weren't enough, Sen. Hillary Clinton has added another tool to her mega-fund-raising arsenal: her newly renovated Washington mansion.
In work that ended last month according to District of Columbia building records, Clinton, D-N.Y., spent well over $800,000 expanding and updating her Embassy Row manse, adding a new pool house and a giant ballroom-like addition for entertaining.
She has been quick to realize a return on that investment, holding major money-raising bashes over the last few weeks.
"I like having people over to my house," Clinton told the New York Daily News.
And she made sure it's a nice place to visit in the sultry D.C. summers, installing three new high-efficiency air conditioners, 60 new indoor lights and 20 outside to go with her spiffed-up pool.
"It's a really good place for people to be able to come," she said. "It's easy to get to and people like coming, and I can really help raise money for other Democrats."
She's not kidding. A recent fund-raiser at the home for Tennessee Senate candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr. took in more than $300,000. An event last Wednesday for the Democratic National Committee earned about $550,000.
"The house will have great cachet in a place like D.C., especially at a time when the Democrats don't control either houses of Congress or the White House," said Chris Lehane, a Democratic consultant.
Clinton's also using the 7,218-square-foot brick colonial to boost her own record-breaking reelection campaign, hosting $4,200-a-head fund-raisers. Her campaign declined to disclose how well those have done.
While the attractive home would be an asset for raising money in Washington during a presidential campaign, it could also have a downside on the campaign trail.
"One thing's for sure: She can't run for President as a populist," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "With that kind of house, she can't tell people in the rest of the country that she's a Washington outsider."
He added that while the home is an advantageous tool, it cements her insider status for an election that will feature no sitting President or vice president.
"She's the closest thing in this election to an incumbent," Sabato said.
Thanks....I knew that you would remember her last name. :-)
Wonder if she hid all the stuff SHE STOLE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE?
Market assessed value: $4,183,800
Kaki Hockersmith.
'pool house'
That would be appropriate when the swimmer visits.
Added on a HIGE ballroom and a pool house...says the article. The house was NOT that many square feet, when she bought it.
Clintons' Designing Woman Tells All
Natural law demands that everyone who's ever had contact with Bill and Hillary Clinton write a book, and at least one interior designer is happy to oblige. Kaki Hockersmith, who's been dressing up the Clintons' various homes since their Arkansas days, is peddling a tell-all about her experiences with Bubba, Hil, and Chelsea in Little Rock and Chappaqua and everywhere in between. According to a source close to the project, such publishing heavyweights as Warner Books and Judith Regan are already hot to secure the rights to Hockersmith's first-person account of the Clintons during their many triumphs and humiliations of the past decade (and that's just the part about their taste in furniture).
Did Kaki ever write her book?
Tahnks, but no thanks.........I'll stick with my little cottage farmhouse in the stix - I know we bought it honestly.
Tacky Kaki Gallery
http://kakihockersmith.com/html/gallery_2.html
BUMP that! Y'all bought yours with honest money.
I'm partial to the living room with the Twister carpet.
Don't let a Kennedy drive in then.
WOW .. she's come a long way since the days she made her guest use the port a potties outside
So how much is she charging to hold these events in her home??
How much time does she really spend in NY?
You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out...
Hokey pokey is a good description of the 'Toons.
Khaki Hockersmith.
Dream on, Larry.
Ditto That!
Well Said!
$800,000 equals a mansion. Can't be in California. Where the heck do they have mansions for only $800,000? Geez!
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