In Like Flint

I take exception to that. The fringe element is the repub party. Just look at Bush.

 

Several things happened that put and kept Bush in power, and it was not really the fringe element.

1. Clinton backlash.
2. 9/11.
3. Kerry.

Most of the country is centrist, but the extremist like Rush, Coulter, Hannity get good ratings, because both dem extremists and repub extremists listen to them and read them. The dems read or listen to understand the mindset of their enemy, and the repubs listen and read for constant mind control reinforcement, fearing if they don't continue to fill their head with the hate talk, they might actually revert back to normality of a centrist position...

The moderates of both parties really can't be bothered with what they know is pure vitriol.

 

Hillary Clamps Down
Right Out of Campaign Gate, Senator Clinton Tells Fund-Raisers There’s Only One Very Hungry Democratic Presidential Candidate! Lady Lynn de Rothschild E-Mails 50 of Her Dearest Friends

By: Jason Horowitz
Date: 1/29/2007
Page: 1

Hassan Nemazee is a very powerful Democratic fund-raiser.

As one of the premiere money people in a pivotal check-writing town, Mr. Nemazee’s apartment has been the site of visit after visit by prospective 2008 candidates hoping for a taste of his homemade Chinese food and considerable financial influence. Practically since the day the 2004 race ended, he has obliged, arranging small audiences of key donors on a regular basis.

That’s all over now.

Just three days after Hillary Clinton officially entered the race by announcing the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, Mr. Nemazee winnowed his dinner list down to her alone.

“You basically don’t want to deal with this stuff anymore, because you are taking too much time out of your day,” Mr. Nemazee told The Observer. “I mean, you’ve seen all these people. Just sit down in the last 24 hours and make your decision—and just go with it.”

After months of speculation, Mrs. Clinton’s formal step into the 2008 Presidential race has drastically and immediately changed the political lives of all the candidates seeking to extract cash from New York and other donor-heavy locales. Her folksy and pillow-propped “Let the conversation begin” announcement in a Saturday-morning Web video finally set in motion a massive donor network-in-waiting, simultaneously ending the conversation that Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and the other members of an increasingly crowded field of candidates hoped to have with key fund-raisers.

“It is absolutely time for people to make a choice,” said Fred P. Hochberg, dean of the Milano School for Management and Urban Policy at the New School and a major fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton.

“The check-raisers will need to decide,” he added, “because they are not going to be credible with a donor if they are raising for different Presidential candidates.”

The sheer scale of what Mrs. Clinton is trying to do, if she can do it, will leave little room for her rivals to profit from the traditional Democratic money network. As soon as she announced, Mrs. Clinton began collecting contributions outside the public financing program, allowing her to avoid the spending limits that go along with it. She was the first candidate to do so for both primary and general campaigns since the program began in 1976.

Mrs. Clinton clearly thinks that her fund-raising network can do better than the $150 million made available through public funding, and an aide to Mrs. Clinton said that the campaign plans to raise $65 million this year alone.

Her major backers have already hit the phones, trying to give her the insurmountable financial advantage that political analysts say has already chased away once-promising candidates Mark Warner and Evan Bayh.

Alan J. Patricof, a prominent venture capitalist and Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaign chair, has been one of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s most reliable and prodigious fund-raisers. By Monday afternoon, he said he had already reached out to 25 donors in New York.

“Every person said they would support her financially to the maximum extent. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Mr. Patricof. “There have got to be at least 20, 30, 40 people like me who are making calls. There are a lot of people making the calls.”

The fund-raising operation—overseen by campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who came on as Mrs. Clinton’s scheduler 15 years ago, and finance director Jonathan Mantz, who worked for New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine—moved quickly after this weekend’s announcement.

Maureen White, the former national finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, told The Observer that she started reaching out to donors “bright and early” on Saturday morning, and as of Tuesday had made nearly 90 phone calls soliciting contributions, with an “overwhelmingly positive response.”

Francis Greenburger, a prominent literary agent and Democratic donor who sits on Mrs. Clinton’s finance committee, said that he immediately got on the phone to pitch a half-dozen deep-pocketed friends.

Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a diehard Clinton supporter with an extensive social network, said that a senior member of Mrs. Clinton’s staff sent her an e-mail about the announcement while she was in Delhi. Back at home in London on Monday, Lady de Rothschild said that before getting the official word, she felt “like a horse chomping at the bit” and had begun drafting an e-mail soliciting maximum financial support for Mrs. Clinton, which she expected to send out to about 50 friends on Wednesday.

“Now is a time that we should really step up and support her. Those of us who have really waited a long time, we’re the ones who should be doing our all as early as we can,” said Lady de Rothschild. “We have to feel really energized. We can’t be complacent about this one. There are going to be enough people on the other side working against her.”

“It is hard for other candidates,” added Mr. Nemazee, who was mentioned around the time of Mrs. Clinton’s announcement as one of a number of unattached bundlers being courted by Mr. Obama’s campaign. “There is just so much oxygen available. There are only so many people out there who know how to do this and are willing to do this.”

Mrs. Clinton’s rivals seem to be braced for the onslaught, and some are sounding defiant tones about their ability to make headway in the shadow of the Clinton machine.

“I raised $2 million last year in New York in the midst of Hillary’s run,” said Senator Joe Biden, who is hoping to raise $20 million by the end of the year. “Will I raise the most money? I don’t know. But I will raise enough money.”

Mr. Obama has already lined up some major donors like billionaire George Soros, and has demonstrated a willingness—if not an actual ability—to compete with Mrs. Clinton for donors on her home turf.

Mr. Edwards is counting on the ability to tap into his base of trial lawyers and old hedge-fund associates for money, although he has consciously decided to spend most of his time over the last few months looking for support among voters in the early primary states.

“He won’t raise as much as Hillary, but he certainly will raise money in New York,” said Richard Thaler, vice chairman of Deutsche Bank Securities and a major donor to Mr. Edwards. “I think Edwards is going to be able to raise the money nationally—No. 1, because a lot of people like him and see that he can win in places like Iowa and Nevada and South Carolina, and that he is highly competitive in New Hampshire. And people want to win this election.”

And some of the other contenders, such as Senator Chris Dodd and Mr. Biden, now lead powerful committees that will inevitably make them attractive to certain strategic-minded contributors.

“They all have instant bases,” said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 Presidential campaign. “They can draw their own internal sources from their respective home sources and states. And there are new donors that have come into the fold since the Clinton Presidency that they can perhaps tap into. Some need $100 million to be credible, others probably need 10 to 15 million. As long as they get their message out, they can succeed.”

How effectively they can get the message out, though, is an open question.

On Sunday, when Mrs. Clinton made her first flesh-and-blood public appearance after declaring the formation of her exploratory committee over the weekend, there were a dozen rows of seats filled with reporters pecking at laptops, surrounded by babies bouncing on their mothers’ knees and supporters hoisting their camera phones in the air. Behind the plastic seats, reporters crouched on the cold floor between the tripod legs of television cameras. With the microphone dead onstage, the room resounded mostly with the machine-gun blasts of camera shutters each time one of the children interacted with the candidate.

When Mrs. Clinton spoke, she projected her voice to the back of the room, especially when asked about the battle ahead.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “It’ll be a great contest with a lot of talented people, and I’m very confident. I’m in, I’m in to win, and that’s what I intend to do.’’

The same can be said of her donors.

“We’re all staffers for Hillary,” said Lady de Rothschild, who added: “My apartment is good for 30, 40 people. Things are going to scale up a lot.”

http://www.observer.com/printpage.asp?iid=14047&ic=News+Story+1

 

ZZZ,

Shouldn't it bother centrist, reform-minded Democrats and independents that Hillary is revving up the old Clinton money machine again? It's not like they had shown themselves to be models of integrity. I wonder how much Marc Rich will be good for this time? Adn those coke dealers Bill pardoned?

I thought a central tenet of the liberal good government types was that money in politics is bad. Now their favorite candidate Hillary has decided to end run the federal financing scheme and go straight for the big special interest money. Doesn't that seem troubling at all? Or do you think elections are to be bought and sold?

No doubt she will riase enormous sums and choke off financing for other cnadidates. Add to that all the glowing free publicity she gets from the mainstream media, and you could well have a recipe for a quick coronation. I actually wonder if she wouldn;t benefit from a rough and tumble, competitive primary race. I still think she is a terrible campaigner, she is annoying and grating to anyone not under her spell and she has a lot of skeletons in her closet.

On the other hand, the major media don't have nearly the power they once had. Obama has the ability to light up a room with his smile. Standing next to him, Hillary is going to look old and worn out to a lot of young voters.

 

I don't think you understand that Billary is centrist and reform minded...

Obama has yet to come under the intense scrutiny of a presidential campaign in full swing and I predict in the long battle, that will not be decided till perhaps the summer of 08, that Obama will wilt under the pressure.

Sad to say, young voters haven't show they matter all that much any more...so the "youth" feature of Obama may not play as you think, especially in primaries, where many young people don't even bother to vote. Many will just wait till the general election in November for pres.

Meat and potato voters get candidates nominated, and presidents elected, not youth movements, or the type of movement Dean had going for a short while.

I listened to Obama last night, and while he has charm, if you intently listen to his use of language, it is not as polished or reflective of a broad intelligence and/or education as it seems. He sounds good, but he isn't really saying anything, and he is obvious when he panders to national security, etc.

I think Billary eats Obama's lunch...

The man is not old enough to come across as fatherly "Morgan Freeman" presidential type.

He really needs to spend a couple of terms in the senate carving out a legacy there first, get some gray hair, look more distinguished.

I am somewhat bothered that we have several senators who are going to be distracted away from their work just to run for president. What senator really has sufficient "spare time" to run for president? They are taking their time away from their important work, perhaps even taking advantage of their job, and there is little risk, as if they lose they get to keep their job.

How about we pass a law that people running for president full time, must give up their day job...

Which of us would allow our employees to take the time to run for public office like the presidency? I think Kerry missed votes in the senate when he ran last time, as well as Edwards.

Same with governors, it is an issue to be so distracted away from the work, working to actually leave the job you once claimed was so important to you and your state.

 

There is an interesting debate over whether more time in the Senate would help or hurt Obama. As you know, the last sitting Senator to be elected President was JFK. Too much time there makes them look to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

Hillary is centrist and reform minded? ok, that's a good one. I know you know better, as you seem pretty well informed, but I understand you are singing from the choir book issued by Hillary headquarters. But do we really want the guy whose term in office was memorialized by his DNA on a blue dress wandering the halls again? I admit it might have a fair amount of entertainment value, but is the country really ready for a steady diet of scandals, improprieties, using the IRS on opponents, renting the Lincoln bedroom, mysteriously discovered billing records that had been subpoened, and the zany cast of characters like Craig Livingston, John Huang and Sandy "Lumpy" Berger?

 

Comparing any current US senator to JFK is pretty ridiculous.

Oh, and unlike you, I don't allow Rush Limbaugh or Coulter to define what exactly is liberal or conservative or centrist.

Oh, and in case you don't understand the way it works, Bill won't be president...he would be first husband, and if he leaves stains on anyones dress, even Hillary, it really doesn't matter any more....as if it really mattered then.

Since this country was "ready" for the biggest dope of a president in History, who has a list of failures longer than anyone in history...yes, this country would go back to a change.

Do a independent non partisan survey, and ask how many would have preferred Bill Clinton the past 6 years to Bush...

Uggh...and you defended Bush for most of those years.

Pathetic.

 

I "defended" Bush? Really?

Who started the thread asking if we was the worst president of our lifetime? Who started the thread asking what he had against the Republican Party? Who has criticized him relentlessly over border security and amnesty? Who made the case that Harriet Miers was unqualified for the Supreme Court? Who toasted him over those two Border Patrol guys who his Justice Department sent to prison for 10 years for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler? Who started not one, but two threads to show him a way out of his Iraq dead end?

As for Hillary, she is a doctrinaire socialist and has been since her Wellesly College days. Why do you think she hates Dick Morris so? He was the architect of Bill's successful triangulation strategy, which saw him support issues like welfare reform over Hillary's objections.

Hillary may well be slightly more moderate than her main opposition, Obama and Edwards, but she is significantly to the left of any president since LBJ. Her task in the primaries is to reassure the leftwing fanatics that she is reliable without coming out and saying things that will alert ordinary voters to her true positions. That is why it is crucial for her to strangle the nascent Obama campaign in the crib. Debating him could prove disastrous for her. He is every bit as smart as she is, plus he has the charm and charisma she so clearly lacks.

 

You have been a huge Bush defender until perhaps the past 6 months or so.

Perhaps Hillary dislikes Dick Morris because he is a hack neocon supporter, maybe...maybe not.

Who really knows what happened in the split with Morris. I am not going to believe his story, or the Clinton's story necessarily. Let's just say that they used to work together, and now Morris works against the Clintons.

Personally, I find Morris cheesy, like someone who is eating nothing but cheese and has a rat like quality to him.

Morris gets more face time on O'Reilley and Hannity than nearly anyone, and his credibility apart from the neocons is really lacking...

Now, if you put faith in Morris simply because of your hatred of Hillary, that makes sense perfect sense and would be par for the course given your track record...

http://www.dailyhowler.com/h100198_2.shtml

Morris soiled himself with the dems after the Clinton deal, so now his only source of income seems to be whoring himself out on Fox News continually.

I am not surprised that you, like many are taken with a smooth talking good looking guy who is running for president, without knowing much about who he really is actually.

After all, most repubiklans are in love with a grade B movie actor...

Maybe Obama will also say "I don't remember..."

 

Why? Just curious as to where you're going with that thought.