"He is as clumsy as he is stupid."
(Sorry, I tried to make it smaller...)
Posted on 09/19/2006 7:37:42 PM PDT by Jean S
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has told business associates and Democratic donors that he will chair Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign next year, according to several Democratic sources.
Together, Clinton, the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, and McAuliffe, the top money man in Democratic politics, have a good chance of raising $100 million before the first official contest, the Iowa caucuses in January 2008.
While Clinton and her staff insist she is focused solely on winning reelection in New York this November, the decision over who will be in charge of getting her elected to the White House is already settled.
McAuliffe told The Hill yesterday that Clinton has not made a decision on running for president and will not do so until after Nov. 7. McAuliffe also denied telling friends that he will serve as chairman, although sources contradict him.
He acknowledged that he would play a “huge role” in her presidential campaign if it materializes and that he has recruited donors for a possible White House run.
“I would just say that I hope she runs,” said McAuliffe. “She’s focused on the Senate and I’m focused on helping Democrats.
“Would I have a huge role on the campaign? Of course, that’s not real news. People know that I have has been around lining up people if she decides to run.”
Clinton referred questions to her Senate campaign, where spokeswoman Ann Lewis said, “There is no decision, there is no [presidential] campaign; if there is no campaign there are no titles.”
Clinton’s camp is not the only one among presidential hopefuls lining up donors for 2008. Allies of each of the Democratic contenders are aggressively seeking commitments because of the huge amount of money that will be needed next year.
McAuliffe, who became DNC chairman in 2001, said he has had no conversations with Clinton about titles and that Democrats are merely speculating about the role he would serve in the campaign.
Since he stepped down as DNC chairman after the 2004 election, he has been involved with about a dozen private companies by his own estimate. He said he has raised money for investment funds and real estate deals, and even dabbled in the energy sector. He has also served on the advisory board of Carret Asset Management, an investment firm in New York.
But McAuliffe said he would quickly drop these commitments to help Clinton if she ran for president.
“I would take off time and go full time,” he said of his expected level of commitment.
Early next year, around the time Clinton is expected to launch an exploratory campaign committee, McAuliffe’s new book “ What a Party!: My Life Among Democrats” is expected to be in stores. It will span McAuliffe’s 25 years in politics and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of his party, including the successes of the Clinton presidency.
Although McAuliffe’s specialty is raising money, he would probably not be satisfied serving only as Clinton’s presidential finance chairman.
“To be finance chair would be beneath him,” said one Democratic donor close to Clinton, who added that McAuliffe is “trying to make his presence felt” in moneyed Democratic circles.
No Democratic fundraiser has as high a profile as McAuliffe. Nevertheless, he may be feeling some competition from the many Clinton allies who are positioning themselves as important financial players for her presidential campaign.
“She’s got a full operation,” said Wade Randlett, a prominent Democratic fundraiser based in San Francisco, of the network of Democrats who are laying the financial groundwork for Clinton in the Bay Area. “There are many, many friends who are active for her.”
Randlett said donors who have met Clinton leave the room certain that she will run for president. He said the same clear impression is given by two other hopefuls, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D).
“For Kerry, for Warner, and for Hillary, they are all a certainty,” said Randlett. “People leaving the room all think she’s running for president.”
Randlett also said Bay Area donors have been told that Clinton will not visit there again between now and Election Day so as not to compete for campaign contributions in a Democratic fundraising hub with candidates running for the House and Senate.
Democratic fundraisers report that all politicians with an eye on the White House have been vigorously recruiting donors for primary season. That’s because the Democrats have front-loaded the season even more than in 2004.
With key contests crammed into the first few weeks of 2008, giving the early front-runner the chance to eliminate rivals almost in a fell swoop, there is a premium on raising primary money next year ready to hit the early races in a winter avalanche.
“People are going to have to telescope and enormous amount of fundraising in a very short period of time,” said Steve Grossman, a Democratic fundraiser who served as DNC chairman under Clinton. “In my judgment, if you can’t raise the better part of $50 million, you’re not going to be a first tier candidate.
Given Clinton’s stature and McAuliffe’s stature as a fundraiser, Republicans have little doubt that she will have close to $100 million in her presidential campaign coffers at the end of next year.
Raising that amount of money in the year before an election year would not be unprecedented. The Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign reported $99.1 million in its account at the end of 2003.
“There’s a growing consensus that the top-tier candidates of both political parties are going to opt out of the public financing for the general election as well as the primaries, which [would be] the first time in history that has occurred,” said Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner.
If candidates forego public funding for the 2008 presidential primary and general elections, they will be able to collect contributions for both elections as soon as they form exploratory committees.
Said Toner: “The higher contribution limits of [the] McCain-Feingold [campaign finance law] combined with candidates raising money for general and primary combined with a polarized electorate sets the stage for record-breaking fundraising.”
"The rough tough New York media will never let her get away with this!!"
I thought the New York Post would go tough on her but that was before she started playing "kissy face" with Rupert Murdoch.
I'd forgotten all about Terry.
This ought to be good for a few laughs!
What stunt was that? I missed that news.
Join? When did he ever un-join?
I guess I must have missed the news story about him unfastening his lips from her butt.
McCain...Mr. Manchurian Candidate...but everyone knows his background and sponsors.
I think there are other quieter players out there.
Just IMO, of course.
"He is as clumsy as he is stupid."
(Sorry, I tried to make it smaller...)
I just could not agree more. And .. all people will do is take one look at that face and remember all the times he stood in front of our TV's and LIED and LIED and LIED about Bill Clinton's actions.
This is great news!!
"The Punk"
So now she will have to put a muzzle on him.
Terry McAwful. Didn't he make off with all the Global Crossing shareholders retirement cash to the tune of 22 million dollars?
A clinton and the punk, together again.
Sort of like poop and stench.
Looks like a libral hanging chad to me.
So another has-been crawls out from under his leaf. Wow! The Dims just keep bringing out winners.
.
The Enemy Within HILLARY's primo backer =
The Shadow Party:
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1692140/posts
.
"Together, Clinton, the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, and McAuliffe, the top money man in Democratic politics"
I'm shocked no one read that hitlery was "the favorite"...huh? Did I miss something? LMAO! I think this is her hubby's doings...he's gotten his lackey mcAwful to put the kibosh in her POTUS run early on. Nothing like aggravating the New Yorkers who don't want her to run. Didn't someone just poll how most NY voters don't want her to run for POTUS, but rather stay as senator?
The article is also a DIG at coward dean, who hadn't been able to raise big money yet.
Is it too early to pop corn? I can't wait to watch hitlery, bigfatalgore and yawn kerry fight the big fight and LOSE again and again.
In case you're wondering, I never capitalize the names of dim weasels.
Buahaha.
Why is this thread not showing up in the side bar????
News flash! Moloch to join Lucifer, film at eleven.
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39205
The Common Good
by Noam Chomsky
Odonian Press, 1998
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/Common_Good_Chomsky.html
McAulliff, who got rich on the Global Crossings scam.
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