Hillary Clinton launches fundraising for 2012 already!

Just six weeks after reluctantly surrendering to Barack Obama in the brutal 2008 Democratic primary race, Sen. Hillary Clinton has begun raising money for what she says is her 2012 New York Senate reelection campaign.

Clinton still faces about $20 million in debts from her unsuccessful presidential effort this year. As part of a so-called "unity drive," Obama has appealed to his supporters in recent weeks to give to Clinton to cover the costs that she incurred while raking him over the coals in a bare-knuckled bid to return to the White House. Some Obama backers have balked.

Clinton has also asked her donors to contribute to the massive general election fundraising effort of Obama, who changed his mind and has rejected federal funding. Some Clinton backers have balked.

Now, the New York Observer is reporting early this morning that the former first lady has sent out a special message to supporters who donated up to $2,300 to her anticipated 2008 general election campaign. Since there won't be one, she must return that money to the donors by Aug. 28, unless she gets their permission not to.

Her new appeal includes a photocopy of a handwritten note from Clinton that says: "Dear friend, your commitment has meant so much to me over the course of my presidential campaign. You were there for me when I needed you the most and I'll never forget it. I hope you'll help me continue to fight for the issues and causes we believe in by filling out the enclosed form in support of Friends of Hillary."

The form, once signed, allows Clinton staff to transfer the money from the 2008 general election fund into the 2012 senate reelection treasury, where it can earn four years' of interest. The report comes from Jason Horowitz of the Observer's Politiker blog.

If successful, this early fundraising, while unusual, can have the effect of scaring off any serious Republican challengers in New York. And help keep Clinton supporters in her camp and full of hope after the close call this primary season.

And, if memory serves, when Clinton had about $10 million left over from her successful 2006 Senate reelection campaign, she shifted those funds as starter cash over to her nascent presidential effort last year.

Hmmm. Not that any ambitious politician would think this far ahead. But if Obama was to, say, lose a close election in November to Clinton's close friend, John McCain, the new president would be 72 on Inauguration Day next Jan. 20.

That would make him really pretty old for anything other than maybe perhaps one term, which would leave things wide open in 2012 for, say, a former Arkansas first lady who happens to be only 60 right now. And might have an ample senate campaign fund suitable for transferring into a presidential fund.

But that's absolutely ridiculous to think about now. As is, of course, having three major Democratic fundraising campaigns underway at the same time.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: Associated Press

Comments

[carl29]

The reason Hillary is asking to put that money in her senate account is because the law allows her to used money from her senate account to pay her presidential primary debt. Don't be stupid, making up a whole soap opera!!!!

[Armyvet]

Transferring money from campaign fund to another campaign fund should be illegal. The proper thing to do should be to return it, by cashier's check, in full, to the donor, period.

[Jo CHGO]

Hillary can keep my money. I am still hoping that all of BHO's chickens will come home to roost, and she is at the top of the ticket in 08. But we can be patient if needed, and wait four more years. As a lifelong Democrat, I have never voted red for the presidency. Until this year, if BHO is the nominee, and the DNC has offered us this most inexperienced and manipulative media creation. Sorry, I am not taking the risk.

Full disclosure: I have voted for him in the past, and he has completely disappointed me. His greatest accomplishments in office revolve around his next campaign for the office he hext pursues. He has no accomplishments other than those he as attached himself to or inflated his role on. Don't be fooled by the spin. He is a politician thru and thru and I have no idea what he stands for....today.

[Barry]

Pillary, ia the lowest of the low scum, and has no ethics, morals, or any values, except for herself.
Let her use her own money to pay off her debt, instead of the common guy.
Anyone giving to this harlot, and charlatan, deserves what they get.

[Mat]

Why do these people need more money? They turned down Federal dollars... so forget it!

[William Hale]

HRC cannot both claim to be an informed, and seasoned politician ready to lead AND at the same time ignorant of WJC's beehive family tree structure = Senfeld and Kramer's "Bee Movie".(xref: HRC pesonality in the 'guided tour' of HONEX scene, "...for the rest of your life,"
NOTE: Beehive [[door]]] family tree structures apply to GWB, AAG, WLH, PMcC, even JSMcC re: likely John Cunningham; xref: "We are a family" vs. "We are a party based on merit and compassion"

For HRC to win, who must continue to lead the way; xref: whose complaints filed in how manyl district courts bearing witness to this beehive family tree structure, and under the table nepotism in the US Secret Police Bush Family Dynasty, as well as who being on the public record here and else where,

By leading the way to emancipate the beehive offspring of ALL prominent leaders from the glass ceiling they face; xref: "You look too much like your famous parent", and by removing any shadow of a doubt about 'under the table nepotism" only THEN can HRC be sure not only of a reasonable chance to obtain high public office, but be able to stay in office; xref: abridgement of the right to cast an [sound]...

[Gorefan]

With a family history of heart disease (both his father and grandfather die from heart disease at fairly young ages), two bouts with cancer and having been a two-pack a day smoker for many years, Senator McCain's health should be a bigger issue, then it is now. And w,ho he picks as vice president should be the single most important issue facing his campaign.

[Bruce P]

Clearly this move isn't about Clinton's re-election to the Senate but about shifting general election contributions from her 2008 presidential campaign to her next presidential primary campaign in 2012 or 2016. I think we now know the answer to the question "What does Hillary want?"

[Goldie]

I won't be helping Clinton with her debt after this. I don't understand the Clinton's at all. If she really cared about the party she would be suggesting they donate to the campaign for 2008 either Obama or the DNC.

[William E. Jones]

Things like this typify the cynicism which is so common today. The permanent campaign - the candidates are always running for office - wearies people enormously. At this time political leaders should be focused on the country's pressing problems - not focusing on how to hang on to their jobs.

[LALady]

It's good to keep Hillary Clinton in office. With the world in the shape it's in we need SOMEBODY who really understands what's going on.

[Arnold]

I guess she didn't get the message: nobody wants you as president, any other woman but YOU!

[Gorefan]

If Senator McCain wins the election,Clinton may find the 2012 race to be very difficult. With a family history of heart disease (both his father and grandfather died at fairly young ages (71 and 65 respectfully) of heart disease), he was a two-pack a day smoker for many years and with two bouts with the deadiest form of skin cancer, there is a strong chance that whoever Senator McCain picks as a running mate will get alot of on the job experience.

[Informed Democrat]

Senator HRC, YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

[Vectorpedia (Rick)]

Hillary and Bill do fundraising 24/7.........win or lose ......they want your money

[Jim H]

This "blog" -- really an opportunity for two journalists to sound off -- is such a collection of right-wing myths that it's completely unreadable, if you even want to try. The "New York Observer" doesn't report. It makes conservatives, including employees of the reborn Tribune of the Colonel McCormack era, salivate to believe this junk, and thus, it magically becomes "fact," or rather "factoid."

Note to mainstream journalists: the Internet website is your main product now, and it is interactive. We don't care what Andrew Malcolm says, because he's increasingly exposing himself as just another dittohead.

[Luan]

It's really stupid to even raise the question when it's widely known that Hillary still has about $20M debt from the 2008 primary election.

[margaret]

She sure likes spending the taxpayer's money! ! ! So, WHY DOESN'T SHE LIKE SPENDING HER OWN? ? ?

[Brian]

Go Hillary - the Regan Dems are failing to come into Obama's fold. If Obama flounders, Clinton could still get the nod at the convention - it's not over until then. I have to say as a former Clinton person who reached out to Obama's camp, they're not welcoming us and I'm considering voting for McKinney.

[LAMusing]

I am happy to help pay off Hillary's debt. She stood for me - I am proud to stand for her.

Hillary supporters donated over $4,000,000 to BO's campaign when she asked. BO's supporters have donated only 100,000 to help her pay off her debt. She is not asking for money to pay herself back for personal funds she leant her campaign, only for the balance due to vendors.

And by the way - Hillary isn't taking money away from Obama by asking for donations to pay off her campaign debt - if I didn't give it to Hillary, it would go to McCain.

PUMA!

[Jon]

There is absolutely nothing wrong, unusual or unethical about Hillary asking for campaign contributions for her next political venture. I hope that she will shift the senate contributions to her 2012 presidential campaign. Obama has set fundraising records and continues to ask for funds on a daily basis. He is a politician and Hillary is a politician. Where is the conspiracy? Get over your hatred of the Clintons and focus the negative sentiments into positive energy for your candidate of choice.
Obama/Clinton '08!!!

[fred gill]

Arnold wrote, about Hillary:

"I guess she didn't get the message: nobody wants you as president, any other woman but YOU!"

You didn't get the message, Arnold: more Democrats voted for her than for Pretty Boy, despite his spending advantage. And if I were an Obamacan, I wouldn't be talking about anybody else's fundraising.

[tyler]

The ugly comments about HRC make me so sick. This is a simple matter, she can return the money or ask to keep it to use in her senate campaign. Any politician would try and keep as much of that money as they can. She will be fundraising shortly for her next senate campaign, why not start with a head start. She isn't spending the taxpayers money as margaret says. Its her campaign money that we gave her willingly. I will give her more if she asks for it. How she uses it is up to her. And she did spend her own money 11million of her 20million debt was her own money and just for the record she is not trying to get that money back. She stated it was part of her contribution to her campaign. Hillary does what any smart person does, she just gets a crapload of shit for it no matter what course she takes. Hillary haters get a life, find something constructive to do.

[Democrat President]

I honestly don't understand all this hatred for the Clintons. Come Nov 2008 I will certainly vote for Obama, because we can't afford to have another republican like Bush in office, and that is what McCain has to offer.

In my opinion, Clinton has done so much to help Obama, as she and her donors are contributing significantly to his campaign. Why are so many people so anal and pissed off at her just because she is asking to transfer funds to her senate reelection campaign? I don't get it. If people spent at least half the energy they do, doing something...dare I say positive, then posting useless hateful crap about a candidate who has broken barriers and is urging party unity, then maybe Americans wouldn't be labeled as whiners so much. It seems to me that McCain's former advisor, Gramm, might very well be right. We are all just a bunch of whiners with nothing better to do than to bitch about how crappy our lives are.

[Donna]

Once a grifter, ALWAYS a grifter. Notice how this was very quietly announced under the obnoxiously loud cover of Barack Obama's satire-challenged image on the cover of The New Yorker. HRC tried to strong-arm BHO. He resisted. Now she's unleashed the dragon. Pathetic.

[mikel]

Yea, but Obama's not gonna lose.

[Andy A. Colon]

to all that keep harping at Hillary Clinton get a life I support her and always will so eat dirt and show her some respect that you didnt during this sorry election.

[Alessandro Machi]

The saddest part to this years election was Barack Obama playing the "evil Hillary is doing this or that" card, when the real reality was it was the reverse.

Example, Hillary is trying to damage Obama so she can try again in 2012.

How about, Obama is trying to damage Hillary this time around so if Hillary loses she might be perceived as too old to try again in four years. The premise that this year was do or die for Barack Obama is preposterous (do or die is not to be taken literally, it's a common sports slogan from the past 30 years).

Barack sold out a possible 16 year run for too much, too soon, and he had to resort to making it about what Hillary was plotting to do ruin his instant success, and the bought out media ate it up.

Unfortunately Mr. Malcom not of the middle has written another sinister sounding piece against Hillary Clinton, the AP seems to do that quite a bit.

http://www.HILLARY-WINS.com
http://www.FAIR-REFLECTION.com
http://www.CAUCUSCHEATING.com
http://www.WALLSTREETCHANGE.com

[Gaias Child]

Has anybody told the Senator that she hasn't paid the vendors for her primary campaign this year yet?

I keep noticing how she speechifies about supporting working people and then doesn't pay for the services they provide her.

It just kind of reeks with that denial and arrogance that bothers some observers.

[Bonnie]

Hill and Bill are in this for the $$bills hence they stay married and Hill wants, needs, pleas, does all she can and more to TRY to be president. I might also mention the finger-shaking, chastising Obama and anyone who sees that image. If I have to see her picture/s on the internet again, I think I must quit reading. Personally, I think she needs therapy but then so do I; I need to know how to win friends and there should be at least 100 friends w. a lot of money, learn how to influence them and then well...I guess that's all folks!!!

[Ms. Smith]

These types of requests (by HRC) are standard in the political world. The Clinton campaign planned for the possibility of debt - which is why it put aside the funds in the first place. Smart move - saving for the rainy day.

WHY do some Obama supporters feel it necessary to carry on as they do against Hillary? It does absolutley no good for their candidate, and it does no real harm to HRC. But, it does make the contributors of such nonsense look like jackasses.

The political culture in this election this year is a sorry mess. Between the media and truly fanatical supporters, this most important election is being turned into another "Idol" show. What a disgrace - with so much at stake. This author should find something truly important to write about, i.e., the economy and our failing place in the world, and stop bating the lunatics of the world.

[pacificGatePost]

HILARY MAY BE ANTICIPATING A SURPRISE

The Democratic convention isn't done and over with.

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-clintons-presidential-campaign.html

[Catherine]

Arnold

I guess YOU didn't get the message. 18 milion people wanted her - or don't you remember she won the popular vote.

[Steven]

Thank you Obama supporters for bashing our preferred candidate. Please fuel the fire that is disgruntled Hillary supporters planning to cast their ballots for Sen. John McCain this fall. Please do increase Senator McCain's ratings. It's only beneficial to us. Force the delegates of the DNC to question their choices. Allow them to see that Obama cannot deliver, that he is a creation of the media, followed by the millions of his ignorant and politcally out-of-touch fans. It's no secret that Obama received preferential treatment from CNN during this past primary season.

I will never donate to the Obama camp. Not because i don't support what he stands for or because Hillary asked me to, but because i am not going the person who helps put someone with 4 years of federal experience into the White House (compared to Hillary with nearly decades). My money goes to McCain 2008 or Hillary 2012 (preferably to a presidential race rather than senate reelection).

[Susan B.]

Dear Ms. Smith,

"These types of requests (by HRC) are standard in the political world."

That's simply not true. No one has carried on a losing campaign while accumulating more the $20 million in debt. No one has even approached that degree of self-indulgence. There's simply no precedent for this whatsoever.

"The Clinton campaign planned for the possibility of debt - which is why it put aside the funds in the first place. Smart move - saving for the rainy day."

Again, that's simply not true. The funds weren't set aside by the Clinton campaign. They were set aside by donors, many of whom had already made the $2,300 maximum contribution to her campaign for the nomination and were required by law to earmark any further contributions specifically towards the fall election in the event she to became the Democratic nominee.

Have you forgotten that Senator Clinton effectively lost the race on February 5th precisely because her campaign did not put aside funds for a rainy day, which as you point out was not a smart move? Her campaign was broke at that point and incapable of challenging Senator Obama in the succeeding eleven contests which he won, thereby ensuring his victory. For you to claim now that her campaign was a well-planned, fiscally conservative operation is perverse.

Speaking of which, contributing anything to Senator Clinton's re-election campaign is pigheaded. Senator Clinton won re-election in 2006 running as an incumbent in a liberal state against an unknown Republican, yet spent $36 million--more than any other Senator and many times what her opponent had raised--not to win but to "pump up" her margin of victory. It would be much better for Democrats to divert three-quarters of that money to women running against incumbent Republicans in tough races.

Then again, it would have been better for Democrats, including Senator Clinton, if she had conceded way back in February after Wisconsin when she had no chance to win, rather than extracting tens of millions more dollars from the donor base and forcing Obama to do the same, just to force the race to its inevitable conclusion in June.

Democrats should have $200 million in their war chest right now, rather than being caught up in paying the bills of a loser who ran a long scorched earth campaign rooted in denial, delusion and deceit.

Best,

Susan B.

[A. Jones]

How much is left to pay?

[claudia]

Hillary Clinton will join forces in 2012 with Mikhail Kryzhanovsky, KGB spy, the White House Special Handbook author. He brought crisis to America ?

[Uncleduke316]

First she takes jobs from americans so she can take campaign money from India, then she wants to garnish the paychecks of americans who can't afford health care, then she breaks promises and violates primary laws and when she loses demands that she be given something rather than accept defeat, after costing her party millions of dollars and being the ONLY candidate to go into debt.

If the American people can honestly choose to support this incompetent, unjustifiably overambitious waste of a human being they DESERVE mandatory health care.