Posted on 06/19/2004 11:19:30 AM PDT by Tamzee
Events here bank on Hillary Clinton
Her visit raised $1.1 million for N.J. Democrats and more than $300,000 for Joseph Hoeffel's campaign against Arlen Specter.
By Tom Turcol and Carrie Budoff
Inquirer Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the Democratic Party's star attractions, raised more than $1.4 million at events in New Jersey and Philadelphia yesterday and sharpened her party's attack on the Bush administration.
Clinton generated an estimated $1.1 million at a breakfast reception in Collingswood aimed at boosting the campaign coffers of Camden County Democrats, who sponsored the event, and the party's state Assembly political fund.
Then, in a two-hour swing through Center City, Clinton added more than $300,000 to U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel's U.S. Senate campaign account, making a hotel luncheon at the Wyndham Philadelphia at Franklin Plaza his single largest fund-raising event, according to campaign aides.
At both events, Clinton delivered a strong rebuke of President Bush, saying his policies represented a "radical departure" from positions held even by members of his own party on issues such as the environment, taxes and national security.
"This administration is really not in the mainstream of Americans and the Republican Party," the New York senator told the estimated 800 Democrats who paid $1,000 each to hear her at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood.
"It's not even conservative. It's a radical departure from what has worked and what we should have been building on going into the next century," she said.
Warning that Republicans are creating one of the most sophisticated national grass-roots campaigns ever for this fall's elections, Clinton urged Democrats to galvanize behind U.S. Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid and to work as well for a Democratic Congress.
Two hours later, with Hoeffel at her side, Clinton said the Senate needed Democrats such as him to take back the majority from Republicans, who she said supported the wrong policies on issues such as job creation and prescription-drug coverage.
Clinton, however, did not specifically criticize U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, the four-term incumbent Hoeffel is trying to unseat.
"There are so many things we should be doing as a country, and it just breaks my heart to see what this administration chooses to focus on," Clinton said before the fund-raiser, which also featured Gov. Rendell as a speaker.
At a news conference later yesterday, Specter disputed Hoeffel's assertion that the senator was reluctant to challenge Bush administration policies by listing positions on which he and the President have differed: expanding federal funding for stem-cell research, opposing school vouchers in the District of Columbia, and siding with organized labor to oppose changes to overtime rules.
"I have a very, very independent voice," Specter said in Philadelphia.
Clinton first campaigned for Hoeffel during his unsuccessful 1996 run for a U.S. House seat in the 13th District, drawn initially by her friendship with Hoeffel's older sister. They were undergraduates together at Wellesley College.
Clinton has campaigned for Hoeffel in all his campaigns since, and contributed $10,000 through her political action committee, HILLPAC.
Since winning her Senate seat in 2000, Clinton has become one of the Democrats' most sought-after fund-raisers. She has brought in about $5 million through her political action committee and handed out more than $1 million to more than 140 congressional candidates.
She has raised millions more by simply appearing at events such as yesterday's. Political analysts say her fund-raising activity could be evidence of ambitions for higher office.
"Everybody who aspires to some higher position, whether chairman of the campaign committee or president of the United States, understands that fund-raising is the key to it," said Ross Baker, a political-science professor at Rutgers University and a longtime observer of congressional politics. "That is how you get people obligated to you. People respect people who raise money."
Clinton, as she does at most of her fund-raising stops, dismissed the idea that she wanted to run for the presidency in 2008.
"I don't," Clinton said tersely. "John Kerry will be running for a second term."
Whatever the case, about 1,000 people turned out at both events to get a close-up look at the former first lady.
"People are fascinated to see her and be near her and, to a certain extent, touch her," said Peter Buttenwieser, a major national Democratic fund-raiser who is national finance chairman for the Hoeffel campaign.
Jeanette Maitin, 76, was one of them.
"I hope one day she is our president," she said as she rode the escalator to the Philadelphia fund-raiser. Maitin, an Abington resident, saw Clinton at another Hoeffel event but did not tell her to run. "I might today," Maitin said.
In South Jersey, Clinton and the Democrats honored female Democratic officeholders in the state, including the 103 who hold elective office in South Jersey. In attendance were several female legislators, including Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman from Mercer County, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jeanette Maitin, 76, was one of them".
What would be her expected actuarial longevity at this point? Clouded judgment is already obvious.
Warning that Republicans are creating one of the most sophisticated national grass-roots campaigns ever for this fall's elections, Clinton urged Democrats to galvanize behind U.S. Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid and to work as well for a Democratic Congress.
Wait a minute. This administration is not in the American mainstream, but it is successful at creating one of the most sophisticated national grass-roots campaigns ever. Is that not a contradiction?
Banking on the morally bankrupt.
You caught that, too, eh? LOL
My favorite definition of a liberal, "So open-minded their brains fall out."
It's the CNN syndrome. CNN refuses to admit why Fox News is so successful.
"Her visit raised $1.1 million for N.J. Democrats and more than $300,000 for Joseph Hoeffel's campaign against Arlen Specter. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I first read that sentence...I thought it read "for Joseph Goebbels campaign"....Ha!!
FRegards,
Not much difference... she'd campaign for him, too ;-)
"She has brought in about $5 million through her political action committee and handed out more than $1 million to more than 140 congressional candidates."
And every time she hands out a dollar, she also hands out a virtual piece of paper saying, "You owe me BIG TIME."
"At both events, Clinton delivered a strong rebuke of President Bush..."
See how long she remembered President Bush's graciousness and kindness in the White House last week?
FRegards,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.